KCRS22 Presentations & Video
2022 Kidney Cancer Research Summit
Program content is now LIVE! View the program presentations, including video and slides, using the interactive program below.
Each video is the full session length; to jump to a particular presentation, note the timestamp in red beneath the speaker’s name.
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Fireside Chat: Suzanne Topalian and Drew Pardoll
Toni Choueiri, KCRS Co-Chair, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Hans Hammers, KCRS Co-Chair, University of Texas Southwestern
Drew Pardoll and Suzanne Topalian of Johns Hopkins University shared an inside look at their work, details from their first date (!), and tips for young investigators at the opening session of KCRS22.
KCRP Session 1: Metabolism and Mechanisms with Focus on Health Disparities
Moderated by Maria Carlo, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center & Medhi Mollapour, State University of New York
Abdominal Adiposity in Early-Onset and Aggressive Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma and Health Disparities
– Ken Batai, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
(begins at 44:34)
Identifying the Molecular Mechanisms Underlying HIF2-Independent Tumorigenesis in RCC
– Faeze Saatchi, UT Southwestern
(begins at 56:25)
Loss of VHL Activates SFMBT1-SPHK1 Oncogenic Signaling in Kidney Cancer
– Xijuan Liu, UNC Chapel Hill
(begins at 1:08:05)
Hypoxia Drives Tumorigenesis and Therapy Resistance in Renal Medullary Carcinoma
– Pavlos Msaouel, MD Anderson Cancer Center
(begins at 1:22:46)
KCRP Session 2: Novel Pathways for Therapeutics Beyond Checkpoint Inhibitors
Moderated by Neeraj Agarwal, Huntsman Cancer Institute & Tian Zhang, UT Southwestern
Analyzing the Therapeutic Impact of di-ABZI on PBRM1-Deficient ccRCC Tumors
– Haifeng Yang, Thomas Jefferson University
Targeting the DNA Damage Repair Network to Promote an Innate Immune Response in ccRCC
– Guang Peng, MD Anderson Cancer Center
(begins at 12:14)
Therapeutic Targeting of the HHLA2/KIR3DL3 Axis as a Novel Immune Checkpoint Pathway in Renal Cancer
– Gordon Freeman, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(begins at 29:30)
Novel Cellular Therapies to Achieve Cures in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma
– Wayne Marasco, Dana-Farber Caner Institute
(begins at 38:50)
Session 3: Rapid Abstract Presentations
Moderated by Stephanie Berg, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute & Rana McKay, UC San Diego
Taxonomic and functional assessment of gut microbiome in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) regarding response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI)
– Luis Meza, City of Hope
Genomic and Transcriptomic Predictors of Response to First-Line Treatment with Ipilimumab with Nivolumab (Ipi+Nivo) in patients with Metastatic Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (ccRCC)
– Nishita Tripathi, Huntsman Cancer Institute
(begins at 4:45)
Clonal neoantigen load and tertiary lymphoid structure formation are associated with exceptional response to immune checkpoint inhibition in clear cell renal cell carcinoma
– Tejas Jammihal, MD Anderson Cancer Center
(begins at 9:52)
Circulating biomarkers associated with resistance to Nivolumab and Ipilimumab based regimens indicate persistent immunosuppression and activation of STAT3 signaling
– Marice Alcantara, City of Hope
(begins at 22:00)
Tumor Cell State Regulates Dependency on the Anti-apoptotic BCL-XL Protein in Kidney Cancer
– Abhishek Chakraborty, Cleveland Clinic
(begins at 27:00)
Targeting HIF2a inhibitor resistance in clear cell renal cell carcinoma
– Qing Zhang, UTSW
(begins at 32:10)
Tumoral immunometabolic coevolution defines unique molecular niches in ccRCC
– Cerise Tang, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
(begins at 46:10)
Interim Analysis of PADRES (Prior Axitinib as a Determinant of Outcome of Renal Surgery NCT03438708) Clinical Trial
– Kevin Hakimi, UC San Diego
(begins at 52:20)
Machine learning modeling to assign patients to biologically driven RNA sequencing-based subtypes for the OPTIC prospective phase II clinical trial in renal cell carcinoma
– Anupama Reddy, Vindhya Data Science
(begins at 57:25)
Session 4: Clinical Trials in Progress
Moderated by Martin Voss, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center & Wesley Yip, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Phase 1b/2 trial of Ipilimumab, Nivolumab, and Ciforadenant (INC) (adenosine A2a receptor antagonist) in first-line advanced renal cell carcinoma
– Katy Beckermann, Vanderbilt University Medical Center
APART – A Phase 2 trial of Axitinib, Palbociclib and Avelumab as Renal Cell Carcinoma Therapy
– Praful Ravi, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(begins at 6:00)
Cabozantinib (C) in combination with Nivolumab (N) and Ipilimumab (I) (CaNI) for advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma with Variant Histology (aRCCVH)
– Bradley McGregor, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(begins at 10:48)
A randomized trial of radium-223 (Ra-223) dichloride and cabozantinib in patients (pts) with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with bone metastases (RADICAL / Alliance A031801)
– Rana McKay, UC San Diego
(begins at 14:18)
Special Session 5: Breaking Barriers to Trial Enrollment
Moderated by Michael Atkins, Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
Panelists include: Chana Weinstock, MD, U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Jose Perez, MD, Exelixis; S. Hariharan, MD, FACP, Pfizer; Rick Bangs, SWOG Cancer Research Network.
Can thoughtful selection of exclusion criteria, flexible approaches to trial design, innovative outreach to rural and minority populations, and collaborations accelerate cures for all types of kidney cancer?
Drug development in kidney cancer, and especially in multiple rare kidney cancers is a special challenge. In addition to disparities in gender and race, under-representation in clinical trials of elderly patients is also of great clinical relevance since kidney cancer is a disease of the elderly, with an average age of diagnosis of 64.
This panel of top experts explored the critical topic of ideas for increasing trial recruitment in this special session at KCRS22.
Session 6: Clinical and Scientific Updates in Kidney Cancer
Moderated by Toni Choueiri, Dana-Farber Cancer Center
Summary of First-Line Trials
– Brian Rini, Vanderbilt University
Adjuvant trials in RCC
– Thomas Powles, Barts Cancer Centre
(begins at 16:50)
Summary of 2nd line trials and beyond
– Martin Voss, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
(begins at 33:10)
Microbiome
– Laurence Albiges, Institute Gustave-Roussy
(begins at 50:10)
Non-clear cell
– Sumanta Pal, City of Hope
(begins at 1:05:12)
Novel drugs in early development
– Rana McKay, UC San Diego
(begins at 1:21:55)
Session 7: Immunotherapy Advances and Research
Moderated by Hans Hammers, UTSW & Ari Hakimi, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Understanding and targeting the myeloid response in ccRCC
– Ari Hakimi, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
A Functional Genomics Approach to Identify Renal Cell Carcinoma Antigens Targeted by T Cells in the Tumor Microenvironment
– Edus Warren, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
(begins at 19:45)
Overcoming Resistance to Immunotherapy in Renal Cancer by Targeting Telomerase
– Esra Akbay, UTSW
(begins at 40:30)
New modes of cancer targeting by dissection of successful immunotherapy
– Andrew Sewell, Cardiff University
(video + slides coming soon!)
Session 8: Oral Abstract Presentations
Moderated by Pedro Barata, Tulane University & Rana McKay, UC San Diego
Are the IMmotion151-molecular signatures predictive of treatment outcomes in the JAVELIN Renal 101 trial?
– Renee Maria Saliby, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Molecular Characterization of the Tumor Microenvironment in Chromophobe Renal Cell Carcinoma (ChRCC) and Renal Oncocytic Neoplasms
– Chris Labaki, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(begins at 7:42)
Genomic and Epigenomic Profiling for Target Discovery in Translocation Renal Cell Carcinoma
-Srinivas Viswanathan, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
(video + slides currently unavailable; click here for abstract)
Impact of race and payor status on patterns of utilization of partial and radical nephrectomy in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC)
– Regina Barragan-Carillo, Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán
(begins at 26:40)
Phase 2 study of neoadjuvant cabozantinib in patients with locally advanced non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma
– Mehmet Bilen, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University
(begins at 44:10)
Pathologic Outcomes at Cytoreductive Nephrectomy (CN) Following Immunotherapy (IO) for Patients with Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC)
– Justine Panian, UC San Diego
(begins at 53:45)
ANDREW SEWELL, PhD
Professor, Division of Infection and Immunity
Professor Andrew Sewell is a distinguished Research Professor in the Division of Infection and Immunity at Cardiff University School of Medicine in the United Kingdom.
The research team at Cardiff, led by Professor Sewell, has discovered unconventional T-cells equipped with a new type of T-cell receptor (TCR) which recognizes and kills most human cancer types while ignoring healthy cells. The discovery holds out the tantalizing possibility of a universal approach to killing cancer. The Nature Immunology article on this TCR found it recognized and killed most human cancer types via the monomorphic MHC class I-related protein, MR1.
The hope is this new TCR may provide the scientific community with a different route to target and destroy a wide range of cancers in all patients, opposed to the widely known therapy, CAR-T, which is personalized to each patient and targets only a few types of cancers and has not been successful in solid tumors. Research has shown that TCR kills cancer cells in the lung, skin, blood, colon, breast, bone, prostate, ovarian, kidney, and cervix while ignoring healthy cells. This approach is now in promising early clinical trials with other cancers.
Dr. Sewell presented his work at the Immunotherapy session on Friday at KCRS22 and was gracious enough to give a second talk during our lunch hour. We will add Dr. Sewell’s presentation video and slides when we are able.
“Normal, healthy body cells only present bits of normal proteins, and these are ignored by killer T-cells. If a cell is, for instance, infected with a virus, then it will contain some proteins of viral origin and bits of these will be displayed on the surface of the infected cell. Killer T-cells can recognize these protein fragments as ‘foreign’. This activates the killer T-cell to destroy the infected body cell and all its contents, including the virus. In this sense, killer T-cells act as a sophisticated ‘seek and destroy’ weapon.”