Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40750932›Full record

Trial reportNature medicine2025

Pembrolizumab plus axitinib versus sunitinib for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma: 5-year survival and biomarker analyses of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-426 trial.

Brian I Rini, Elizabeth R Plimack, Viktor Stus, Rustem Gafanov, Tom Waddell, Dmitry Nosov, Frédéric Pouliot, Boris Alekseev, Denis Soulières, Bohuslav Melichar and 14 more

Abstract readClinical Trial, Phase IIIRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Nature medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
54citing papers in PubMed, 6 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

54 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Trial
  8. Trial
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  16. Observational
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  18. Beyond mBiomedicines · 2026
    Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

24 authors.

Brian I RiniVanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, TN, USA. brian.rini@vumc.org.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2212-080X
Elizabeth R PlimackFox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7618-0744
Viktor StusDnipro State Medical University, Dnipro, Ukraine.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4539-8126
Rustem GafanovRussian Scientific Center of Roentgenoradiology, Moscow, Russia.
Tom WaddellThe Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5652-3829
Dmitry NosovCentral Clinical Hospital With Outpatient Clinic, Moscow, Russia.
Frédéric PouliotCHU of Québec and Laval University, Quebec, Quebec, Canada.
Boris AlekseevP. Herzen Moscow Oncology Research Institute, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia.
Denis SoulièresCentre Hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1533-3815
Bohuslav MelicharPalacký University Medical School and Teaching Hospital, Olomouc, Czech Republic.
Ihor VynnychenkoSumy State University, Sumy Regional Oncology Center, Sumy, Ukraine.
Sergio Jobim de AzevedoHospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Delphine BorchielliniCentre Antoine Lacassagne, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France.
Raymond S McDermottSt. Vincent's University Hospital and University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8952-4315
Jens BedkeDepartment of Urology and Transplantation Surgery, Eva Mayr-Stihl Cancer Center, Klinikum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany.
Satoshi TamadaBell-Land General Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
Sterling WuMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.
Julia MarkensohnMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.
Yiwei ZhangMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.
Andrey LobodaMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4239-184X
Amir VajdiMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8271-8566
Rodolfo F PeriniMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.
Joseph BurgentsMerck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA.
Thomas PowlesBarts Health Biomedical Research Center, Queen Mary's University of London ECMC, London, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7760-4724

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

At the first interim analysis of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-426 trial, first-line pembrolizumab plus axitinib showed superior overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS) and objective response rate (ORR) over sunitinib for advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). To assess long-term durability of clinical outcomes and elucidate predictive biomarkers for RCC, we performed efficacy and prespecified exploratory biomarker analyses from KEYNOTE-426 with ≥5 years of follow-up. Pembrolizumab plus axitinib showed sustained benefits in OS (hazard ratio: 0.84; 95% confidence interval: 0.71-0.99), PFS (hazard ratio: 0.69; 95% confidence interval: 0.59-0.81) and ORR (60.6% versus 39.6%) compared to sunitinib. An 18-gene T-cell-inflamed gene expression profile (Tcell

Indexed as

Antibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedAntineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy ProtocolsAxitinibBiomarkers, TumorCarcinoma, Renal CellKidney NeoplasmsSunitinibAdultAgedB7-H1 AntigenFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedProgression-Free SurvivalAntibodies, Monoclonal, HumanizedAxitinibB7-H1 AntigenBiomarkers, TumorpembrolizumabSunitinib

Identifiers

PMID40750932
PMCPMC12532709

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.