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Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair

Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic in Arizona

Citations 9

Clinical Outcomes of HIF-2α inhibition in Von Hippel–Lindau Disease: A Multicenter Real-World Study
Abbas, Mousab Al, Zarka, Jabra, Silva, Alvin C. , Cingolani, Filippo , Sarfraz, Muhammed Uzair, Khan, Muhammad Ali, Tan, Winston, Costello, Brian A. , Abdul‐Muhsin, Haidar, Jang, Albert , Al Abbas, Mousab , Jang, Albert , Riaz, Irbaz B , Zarka, Jabra , Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Nahhat, Fouad , Tan, Winston, Riaz, Irbaz Bin , Zakharia, Yousef

The Oncologist | August 16, 2026 | Volume: No volume available | Issue: No issue available | Pages: No page available

10.1093/oncolo/oyag331 Get It

Abstract Background and Objective Management of von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) disease is challenging due to multisystem involvement and limited systemic treatment options. Belzutifan has shown promising efficacy in clinical trials; however, real-world data remain limited. We aimed to evaluate its effectiveness and safety in a real-world cohort. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of 59 patients with VHL disease treated with belzutifan between August 2021 and January 2026. Objective response rates (ORR) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), central nervous system hemangioblastomas (CNS HB), and pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (pNET) were assessed by an independent radiologist. Retinal hemangioblastoma outcomes were evaluated through ophthalmology records by chart review. Results Median follow-up was 29 months. ORR was 27.6%, 39.6%, and 85.7% for RCC, CNS HB, and pNET, respectively. Among 13 patients with retinal hemangioblastomas (20 eyes), 17 eyes (85%) showed improvement. At data cutoff, 47 patients (79.6%) remained on treatment, while 12 (20.3%) discontinued (7 due to adverse events, 3 to disease progression, and 2 to other reasons). The most common adverse event was anemia (86.4%). Grade ≥3 events occurred in 10 patients (16.9%). The procedure rate per patient-year decreased from 0.35 in the 3 years prior to treatment to 0.08 during follow-up (Incidence Rate Ratio, 0.23; 95% CI, 0.12–0.47; P < 0.001) Conclusions Belzutifan demonstrated efficacy across VHL-associated lesions, with favorable safety profile. Most adverse events were grade 1–2. A reduction in procedure rate was observed after treatment initiation.
Automated Phenotypic Characterization in Rare Hematologic Malignancies Using a Large Language Model–Based Framework
Ayub, Umair , Jajja, Salman Ayub, Anjum, Muhammad Umair , Warraich, Kainat , Jain, Prateek, Oberoi, Japneet Kaur , Abbas, Mousab Al, Sadiq, Muhammad Hussnain, Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Huang, Ziyi , Palmer, Jeanne , Khan, Muhammad Ali , Sadiq, Muhammad Hussnain , Riaz, Irbaz Bin

No container title available | July 10, 2026 | Volume: No volume available | Issue: No issue available | Pages: No page available

10.64898/2026.06.26.26356633 Get It

Abstract Background Diagnosis and risk stratification in rare hematologic malignancies such as myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) – polycythemia vera (PV), essential thrombocythemia (ET), and myelofibrosis (MF) – require expert review of longitudinal, heterogeneous clinical records. This process is cognitively demanding, inconsistently applied, and difficult to scale beyond tertiary centers. No automated phenotyping workflow currently exists for hematologic malignancies. Methods A HIPAA-compliant large language model (LLM) framework for phenotyping MPN was developed to integrate (i) rule-based retrieval of bone marrow biopsy reports, clinical notes, and structured laboratory results from the electronic health record (EHR); (ii) zero-shot extraction of diagnostic and prognostic variables from unstructured text using GPT-4 Turbo; (iii) a clinician-informed source-prioritization algorithm to reconcile conflicting multi-source data; (iv) WHO/ICC-criteria–based diagnostic classification; and (v) NCCN-based risk stratification using the conventional risk model for PV, IPSET-thrombosis for ET, and DIPSS, DIPSS-plus, and MIPSS70/MIPSS70+ v2 for MF. Patients were identified via MPN-related ICD-9/10 codes; cases met 2017 WHO criteria or had a hematologist-documented diagnosis, and controls did not. The cohort was split into a prompt-development set (n = 60) and a held-out test set (n = 450; 75 cases and 75 controls per disease). Ground truth was established by independent dual-clinician chart review with consensus adjudication. LLM performance was evaluated against the ground truth: variable-level extraction using accuracy, F1 score, and Cohen’s kappa; patient-level diagnostic classification using sensitivity, specificity, and Cohen’s kappa; and prognostic risk stratification (among confirmed cases) using accuracy, weighted F1 score, and quadratic-weighted Cohen’s kappa. Wilson 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used for proportions and bootstrap 95% CIs with 500 resamples for F1 scores. Results The held-out test set included 450 patients (PV: 150; ET: 150; MF: 150) with pathology reports and structured laboratory results, and 172 patients (PV: 52; ET: 55; MF: 65) with clinical notes. From pathology reports, overall variable extraction accuracy and F1 score were 99% (95% CI, 98–100) and 1.00 (0.99–1.00) for PV, 100% (99–100) and 0.99 (0.96–1.00) for ET, and 100% (99–100) and 0.99 (0.97–1.00) for MF. From clinical notes, overall accuracy and F1 score were 96% (91–100) and 0.94 (0.85–1.00) for PV, 100% (100–100) and 1.00 (1.00–1.00) for ET, and 100% (99–100) and 0.98 (0.95–1.00) for MF. Diagnostic sensitivity was 100% (95% CI, 95.1–100.0) for PV, ET, and MF; specificity was 98.7% (92.8–99.8) for PV and 100% (95.1–100.0) for both ET and MF, with Cohen’s kappa of 0.99 for PV and 1.00 for ET and MF. Risk stratification accuracy was 100% with weighted F1 score of 1.00 and quadratic-weighted Cohen’s kappa of 1.00 across all three diseases. A pre-specified source-ablation analysis showed that pathology reports alone were sufficient for diagnosis (sensitivity 98.7% for PV, 100% for ET, 96.0% for MF; specificity 100% across all three subtypes) but inadequate for prognostication (accuracy 69.3% for PV, 93.3% for ET, 77.3% for MF). Adding clinical notes to pathology reports recovered full prognostic accuracy of 100% across all three diseases. Conclusions This first-in-class automated framework achieved expert-level performance for MPN diagnosis and risk stratification from real-world EHR data, establishing a foundation for scalable, standardized phenotyping in rare hematologic malignancies. Prospective, multi-site validation is warranted before clinical deployment.
Transforming evidence into answers: An agentic framework to support living clinical practice guidelines.
Naqvi, Syed Arsalan Ahmed , Khan, Muhammad Ali, Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Kumar, Priya, Rumble, Bryan Bryan, Oliver, Tom, He, Huan, Nahhat, Fouad , Rumble, Bryan, Riaz, Irbaz Bin

Journal of Clinical Oncology | May 28, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 16_suppl | Pages: No page available

10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.e17004 Get It

e17004 Background: Living clinical practice guidelines offer the opportunity to keep recommendations aligned with the latest evidence, but they also present a fundamental challenge: as evidence accumulates, panelists cannot sustainably query and synthesize a growing body of literature. In developing ASCO's living metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) guideline, we encountered this challenge firsthand. To address it, we developed and evaluated an interactive agentic framework that enables guideline panelists to query evidence in natural language and retrieve structured facts, tables, and figures—with the goal of extending this tool as a clinician-facing companion to enhance guideline accessibility. Methods: The mCRPC systematic review dataset supporting ASCO's clinical practice guideline was used, comprising 212 structured columns capturing trial characteristics, patient populations, and outcomes extracted from 188 references across 88 clinical trials. A large language model (LLM)-based agentic framework was developed employing a coding agent that translates natural language queries into executable scripts for structured evidence retrieval. Claude (Haiku 4.5, Sonnet 4.5, and Opus 4.5) served as the core LLM agents. We constructed a benchmark of 50 fact-based queries with gold-standard answers targeting trial identification, treatment modalities, and endpoint characteristics (e.g., "Which trials evaluated systemic monotherapy?"). Performance was evaluated using exact-match accuracy for final answers, and precision, recall, and F1 score for trial-level retrieval. Results: Across 50 queries, exact-match accuracy ranged from 82% to 86%. Haiku 4.5 and Sonnet 4.5 each achieved 82% (42/50), while Opus 4.5 achieved 86% (43/50). Precision ranged from 0.93–0.97, recall from 0.94–0.96, and F1 scores from 0.91–0.94. Conclusions: This agentic framework enables scalable, auditable, natural language interrogation of guideline evidence, addressing a critical bottleneck in living guideline maintenance. For panelists, it supports rapid, reproducible evidence surveillance during recommendation development. For clinicians, it offers a foundation for an interactive companion tool that transforms static guidelines into queryable resources—enabling personalized evidence retrieval at the point of care. LLM EM Precision Recall F1 claude-haiku-4-5 0.82(42/50) 0.95 0.94 0.91 claude-sonnet-4-5 0.82(42/50) 0.97 0.96 0.93 claude-opus-4-5 0.86(43/50) 0.93 0.96 0.94
Hybrid AI framework for automated prostate cancer disease state ascertainment from real-world electronic health records.
Ayub, Umair , Naqvi, Syed Arsalan Ahmed , Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Afzal, M. , Sadiq, Muhammad Hussnain , Humayun, Muhammad Abdullah, Singh, Parminder, Nahhat, Fouad , Zakharia, Yousef , Riaz, Irbaz Bin

Journal of Clinical Oncology | May 28, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 16_suppl | Pages: No page available

10.1200/jco.2026.44.16_suppl.e17003 Get It

e17003 Background: Accurate ascertainment of prostate cancer (PCa) disease states—biochemical recurrence (BCR), castration-sensitive prostate cancer (CSPC), and castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)—is critical for automated clinical trial enrollment, quality improvement initiatives, and real-world evidence generation. Essential information for disease state ascertainment resides in unstructured EHR data, requiring labor-intensive manual abstraction that is inconsistent and not scalable. We developed an automated hybrid AI framework using large language models to identify PCa disease states from real-world EHR data. Methods: This retrospective study included patients with histopathologically confirmed PCa (2017-2022) and ≥3 years follow-up. Sequential EHR data—including PSA and testosterone levels, clinical notes, pathology and radiology reports—were retrieved across temporal points. BCR was identified using rule-based algorithms (post-radical prostatectomy [RP]: PSA ≥0.2 ng/mL ×2; post-radiation therapy [RT]: nadir + 2 ng/mL ×2). CRPC was determined using androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) timing, PSA kinetics, testosterone < 50 ng/dL, and radiographic progression per PCWG/EAU-ASCO criteria. GPT-4o with structured parametrized prompts extracted metastatic status and radiographic progression. Independent clinicians performed manual annotation for validation. The framework was developed on 10% of data with evaluation on 90%. External validation used a held-out cohort of clinical trial patients. Results: Among 200 PCa patients (median age 66 years [IQR 60-71]; 91% White, 93% non-Hispanic), the framework demonstrated high accuracy: PCa diagnosis (92%), RP dates (94%), RT dates (93%), and ADT initiation (92%). For disease state identification, BCR detection achieved 90% accuracy, castration status 93%, and metastatic state (M0/M1) 87%. External validation on trial-enrolled patients confirmed robust performance: 26/31 (84%) CRPC trial patients and 26/27 (96%) CSPC trial patients were correctly classified, validating the framework’s reliability for clinical trial matching. Conclusions: This hybrid LLM-based framework accurately identifies PCa disease states using real-world EHR data with minimal manual intervention. The system offers a scalable, reproducible approach for automated disease state identification, enabling streamlined clinical trial matching and enhanced real-world data curation in oncology.
Leveraging large language models (LLM) to guide adjuvant treatment recommendations for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after nephrectomy.
Mohammed, Arshad, Ayub, Umair , Khan, Muhammad Ali , Sadiq, Muhammad Hussnain , Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Heath, Elisabeth I. , Basu, Arnab, Nahhat, Fouad , Abbas, Mousab Al, Childs, Daniel S. , Singh, Parminder Pal , Zakharia, Yousef , Riaz, Irbaz Bin

Journal of Clinical Oncology | March 2, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 7_suppl | Pages: 567-567

10.1200/jco.2026.44.7_suppl.567 Get It

567 Background: Selecting adjuvant therapy after nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) requires reviewing scattered electronic health records (EHR) and performing accurate eligibility and risk assessments. Large Language Models (LLMs) may assist physicians by extracting key clinical data and generating evidence-based recommendations between active surveillance and adjuvant pembrolizumab. Methods: We selected RCC patients who underwent nephrectomy at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota between December 2021 and September 2025. Data extraction from EHRs was performed by a HIPAA-compliant LLM (GPT-5 and Gemini 2.0-Flash-001) and compared to human labels. Data on patients’ demographics, medical history, pathology, laboratory results, and imaging were collected. GPT-5 generated treatment recommendations using a structured prompt that incorporated patients’ features and relevant clinical information that is available to clinicians. Concordance between the human labels and LLM was evaluated for extraction. For treatment recommendations, agreement between the LLM’s output and physician’s documented recommendation in clinical notes was assessed, with disagreements reviewed independently by two blinded genitourinary oncologists. Results: The dataset included 85 patients, median (range) age of 65 (34-84) years; 24.7% were females. Patients who declined adjuvant treatment for personal reasons were excluded. LLM achieved an extraction accuracy of 95% for presenting symptoms, 97% for BMI and ECOG, and > 99% for pathology variables. Concordance between LLM and physician treatment recommendations was 84.7% (72/85). Among 13 discrepant cases, one oncologist agreed with the LLM in 9 cases and the other in 8. The main reasons for disagreement between the physicians and the LLM were that the LLM favored active surveillance for patients with declining renal function, whereas physicians still considered adjuvant pembrolizumab appropriate in such cases. Additionally, the LLM demonstrated hesitancy to recommend pembrolizumab for patients with low performance status. Overall, the 13 discrepant cases were nuanced and challenging, with disagreement observed between the two oncologists themselves in three instances. Conclusions: LLMs demonstrated high accuracy in extracting clinically relevant variables and generating objective, evidence-based adjuvant treatment recommendations for RCC after nephrectomy. Importantly, LLM did not generate any inappropriate or potentially harmful recommendations. Our pipeline can serve as a supportive decision tool to enhance consistency in post-nephrectomy management and assist physicians in choosing between active surveillance and adjuvant pembrolizumab. However, final treatment decisions should remain the responsibility of the treating physician after comprehensive patient evaluation.
Differential quality of life (QoL) with novel hormonal therapy (NHT) in metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer (mCSPC): A network meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.
Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Naqvi, Syed Arsalan Ahmed , Sadiq, Muhammad Hussnain , Khan, Muhammad Ali, Chohan, Yashveer, Basu, Arnab, Heath, Elisabeth I., Singh, Parminder, Childs, Daniel S. , Heath, Elisabeth I., Singh, Parminder Pal , Zakharia, Yousef , Riaz, Irbaz Bin

Journal of Clinical Oncology | March 2, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 7_suppl | Pages: 360-360

10.1200/jco.2026.44.7_suppl.360 Get It

360 Background: Adding NHT to androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) improves survival in mCSPC, but their comparative impact on patient-reported QoL and time to deterioration (TTD) across FACT-P domains remains underexplored. Methods: MEDLINE and Embase were systematically searched from each database’s inception through August 21, 2025, to identify Phase III trials assessing NHT treatment in mCSPC. Time to FACT-P (total, physical, emotional, functional, and social/family well-being) deterioration across trials with the latest follow up were extracted. Hazards ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled and mixed treatment comparisons were made using network meta-analysis. P-scores were computed; a higher score indicated better QoL. Results: A total of 4 trials (12 references) with 4,037 patients met the inclusion criteria with median follow up ranging from 14.4 months to 30 months. Median time to QoL deterioration ranged from 11.4 to 12.9 months. In terms of FACT-P overall, darolutamide (DARO)+ADT (HR: 0.76; 95% CI: 0.62-0.93), abiraterone acetate (AAP)+ADT (0.85; 0.73-0.98) significantly improved TTD as compared to ADT alone. DARO+ADT was associated with significant improvement in TTD when compared to APA+ADT (0.75; 0.56-0.98). In terms of FACT-P social/family wellbeing, DARO+ADT significantly improved TTD when compared to AAP+ADT (0.75; 0.57-0.96), and ADT (0.79; 0.64-0.98). Likewise, ENZA+ADT significantly improved TTD when compared to AAP+ADT (0.77; 0.63-0.95), APA+ADT (0.88; 0.61-0.99) and ADT (0.82; 0.70-0.95). However, there was no statistically significant difference between DARO+ADT and ENZA+ADT. In terms of FACT-P physical wellbeing, AAP+ADT was associated with statistically significant improvement in TTD when compared to APA+ADT (0.66; 0.52-0.83), ENZA+ADT (0.74; 0.61-0.90), and ADT (0.75; 0.65-0.87). In terms of FACT-P functional wellbeing, DARO+ADT was associated with statistically significant improvement in TTD when compared to ADT (0.78; 0.63-0.96). The ranking analysis is showed in Table. Conclusions: Novel hormonal therapies significantly delay QoL deterioration in mCSPC, particularly across overall, emotional, and functional domains. Domain-specific analyses suggest darolutamide may preserve social/family and functional well-being, while abiraterone favors physical well-being. Rank table. Rank (P-score) FACT-Ptotal FACT-Psocial/family FACT-Pphysical FACT-Pfunctional FACT-Pemotional AAP+ADT 2 (0.73) 5 (0.18) 1 (0.98) 2 (0.62) 3 (0.52) APA+ADT 5 (0.17) 4 (0.22) 5 (0.07) 4 (0.33) 4 (0.52) DARO+ADT 1 (0.90) 1 (0.88) 2 (0.68) 1 (0.92) 2 (0.66) ENZA+ADT 3 (0.50) 2 (0.84) 4 (0.36) 3 (0.52) 1 (0.67) ADT 4 (0.18) 3 (0.38) 3 (0.42) 5 (0.11) 5 (0.13)
Cardiovascular toxicity with androgen-receptor pathway inhibitors in metastatic prostate cancer: A meta-analysis of randomized trials.
Sadiq, Muhammad Hussnain , Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Khan, Muhammad Ali, Tahir, Haris Bin, Naqvi, Syed Arsalan Ahmed , Guha, Avirup, Singh, Parminder, Nahhat, Fouad , Tahir, Haris Bin , Guha, Avirup , Zakharia, Yousef , Singh, Parminder Pal , Riaz, Irbaz Bin

Journal of Clinical Oncology | March 2, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 7_suppl | Pages: 145-145

10.1200/jco.2026.44.7_suppl.145 Get It

145 Background: Multiple trials have demonstrated addition of androgen-receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPIs) improve survival in patients with metastatic prostate cancer but there is a need to quantify cardiovascular toxicity. Understanding the nature and extent of ARPI-associated cardiovascular adverse events across disease states and toxicity grades is critical to inform treatment decisions and long-term patient safety. Methods: MEDLINE, and EMBASE were systematically searched from database inception through August 30, 2025, for phase III randomized controlled trials evaluating abiraterone, enzalutamide, apalutamide, darolutamide, orteronel in metastatic prostate cancer. Trials were included if they reported CVS toxicity. Meta-analysis using a random-effects model was performed to assess the difference of all-cause and treatment-emergent cardiovascular adverse events between ARPI+ADT and ADT alone. Summary effects were expressed as relative risk (RR) with associated 95% confidence intervals. Results: A total of 21 trials (45 references) with 25,576 patients (mCSPC: 12,537, mCRPC: 13,039) were included in this meta-analysis. Compared to ADT alone, ARPI+ADT significantly increased the risk of all cause, all grade hypertension in both mCSPC (RR 1.60, 1.22–2.10) and mCRPC (RR 1.61, 1.20–2.16) as well as grade ≥ 3 hypertension (RR 1.71, 1.17–2.48) in mCRPC setting. There was an increased risk of all-cause, all grade acute coronary syndrome (RR 2.21, 1.09–4.49) and AV nodal disease (RR 2.53, 1.18–5.43) with ARPI+ADT compared to ADT alone in mCSPC setting. There was increased risk of all cause, all grade, any cardiac events (RR 1.30, 1.10–1.54) as well as grade ≥ 3 any cardiac events (RR 1.70, 1.20–2.42) in mCRPC setting. Risk of all cause, all grade hot flashes (RR 1.47, 1.16–1.85) was also significantly increased with ARPI+ADT when compared to ADT alone. In terms of treatment-emergent adverse effects, a significant increase was observed only for pulmonary embolism with ARPI+ADT when compared to ADT alone (RR 1.66, 1.06–2.60) in mCRPC setting. Conclusions: Current evidence indicates potentially increased risk of hypertension, venous thromboembolic, and ischemic cardiac events with ARPI therapy in metastatic prostate cancer. Proactive CV risk assessment, particularly in patients with preexisting comorbidities or prolonged ARPI exposure, may optimize outcomes and minimize treatment interruptions. All cause adverse events. Adverse Event Disease State All Grade Grade ≥3 Any Cardiac Event mCSPC 0.81 (0.37–1.76) 0.88 (0.16–4.64) mCRPC 1.30 (1.10–1.54) 1.70 (1.20–2.42) Hypertension mCSPC 1.60 (1.22–2.10) 1.43 (0.82–2.52) mCRPC 1.61 (1.20–2.16) 1.71 (1.17–2.48) ACS mCSPC 2.21 (1.09–4.49) 1.77 (0.86–3.61) mCRPC – – Hot Flashes mCSPC – – mCRPC 1.47 (1.16–1.85) 1.46 (0.21–9.97)
Immune checkpoint inhibitor combinations in sarcomatoid metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Kumar, Priya, Riaz, Zaryab Bin, Marsool, Mohammed Dheyaa, Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Khan, Muhammad Ali, Barker, Kenneth, Chohan, Yashveer, Abdul-Muhsin, Haidar, Basu, Arnab, Singh, Parminder, Barker, Kenneth N. , Marsool, Mohammed Dheyaa Marsool , Khan, Muhammad Ali, Childs, Daniel S. , Singh, Parminder Pal , Riaz, Irbaz Bin , Zakharia, Yousef

Journal of Clinical Oncology | March 2, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 7_suppl | Pages: 483-483

10.1200/jco.2026.44.7_suppl.483 Get It

483 Background: Sarcomatoid dedifferentiation (sRCC) in metastatic clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (mccRCC) confers aggressive disease and poor prognosis. We maintain a living meta-analysis of first-line immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)–based combinations in mccRCC (Riaz et al., Eur Urol Oncol 2021), which demonstrated improved survival with ICI-based regimens over sunitinib. Here, we present an updated synthesis focused on the comparative efficacy of ICI combinations in the sarcomatoid subset. Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CENTRAL through October 2025 was performed as part of our living meta-analysis of first-line mccRCC therapy. Eligible phase III RCTs compared ICI combinations (IO/IO or IO/TKI) versus sunitinib, including CheckMate 214, CheckMate 9ER, KEYNOTE-426, CLEAR/KEYNOTE-581, JAVELIN Renal 101, and IMmotion151. Extracted outcomes included overall (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), and objective (ORR), complete (CR), and partial (PR) response rates. Random-effects meta-analyses generated pooled hazard ratios (HRs) for time-to-event outcomes and risk ratios (RRs) for response rates with 95% confidence intervals. Subgroup interaction analyses compared sarcomatoid versus non-sarcomatoid subgroups, with p < 0.1 considered significant. Results: Six phase III RCTs (n = 5,121; 624 sarcomatoid) were included. Across all ICI-based combinations, ICI therapy improved outcomes versus sunitinib in both sarcomatoid and non-sarcomatoid disease. In the pooled analysis, the OS interaction favored sRCC meeting the prespecified significance threshold for subgroup analyses (HR 0.53 vs 0.68; p-interaction = 0.06 < 0.10), while no significant interaction was seen for PFS. Response outcomes showed the strongest differential benefit, particularly with IO/TKI regimens. IO/IO results were directionally consistent but limited by smaller non-sarcomatoid samples. Conclusions: ICI-based combinations significantly improve survival and response outcomes versus sunitinib in mccRCC. Using a prespecified α = 0.10 for interaction testing, the pooled analysis showed a significant OS interaction and higher response rates in sRCC, indicating enhanced ICI sensitivity. These updated meta-analysis data support ICI regimens as the preferred first-line therapy for mRCC with sarcomatoid de-differentiation. Endpoint Regimen Subgroup (S = sarcomatoid; NS = non-sarcomatoid) Effect (95% CI) p-interaction PFS IO/IO S 0.51 (0.40–0.65) – IO/TKI S vs NS 0.48 (0.36–0.64) vs 0.46 (0.39–0.52) 0.81 OS IO/IO S 0.54 (0.07–4.42) – IO/TKI S vs NS 0.51 (0.17–1.48) vs 0.68 (0.30–1.58) 0.24 ORR IO/IO S 2.93 (0.49–17.37) – IO/TKI S vs NS 2.43 (1.84–3.21) vs 1.95 (1.67–2.28) 0.03 CR IO/IO S 3.81 (0.82–17.71) – IO/TKI S vs NS 5.93 (4.73–7.42) vs 2.85 (0.10–83.73) 0.007 PR IO/IO S 3.48 (1.70–7.11) – IO/TKI S vs NS 2.10 (1.78–2.47) vs 1.75 (1.18–2.61) <0.001
Clinical efficacy of belzutifan in pre-treated renal cell carcinoma: A real world retrospective cohort benchmarked to LITESPARK-005.
Khan, Muhammad Ali, Sarfraz, Muhammad Uzair, Marsool, Mohammed Dheyaa, Kumar, Priya, Basu, Arnab, Abdul-Muhsin, Haidar, Abbas, Mousab Al, Marsool, Mohammed Dheyaa Marsool , Childs, Daniel S. , Riaz, Irbaz Bin , Zakharia, Yousef

Journal of Clinical Oncology | March 2, 2026 | Volume: 44 | Issue: 7_suppl | Pages: 464-464

10.1200/jco.2026.44.7_suppl.464 Get It

464 Background: Based on LITESPARK-005 trail, Belzutifan was FDA-approved to treat advanced RCC following ICI and a VEGF-TKI. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to report the real-world outcomes of Belzutifan in pre-treated RCC patients. Methods: A retrospective chart review of all patients who received Belzutifan at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center between Dec 2023 and Sep 2025 was conducted. Patients treated for sporadic RCC were eligible; those with von Hippel–Lindau disease, non-RCC pathologies (e.g., Pheochromocytoma, ovarian cancer) were excluded. Radiologic response was assessed by trained curators using RECIST-defined criteria, approximated through systematic review of radiology reports with clinician adjudication when needed. Progression-free survival (PFS), defined as the time from treatment initiation to radiographic progression or death, was estimated using the Kaplan–Meier method. Non-progressors were censored at the last radiology assessment. Patients who discontinued therapy for non-progression reasons were censored at the last radiology assessment prior to discontinuation. Any-cause hypoxia and anemia were reported using CTCAEv5 definitions. Results: A total of 158 patients were identified; 83 (52.5%) who received Belzutifan for sporadic RCC were included. The remaining were excluded for VHL disease (68, 43%) or other pathologies (7, 4.4%). Median follow up was 12 months, 67% were male, median age was 70 (range 39, 94) with 57 patients (69%) were ≥ 65. 28 patients (34%) had a poor IMDC score at baseline. The cohort received a median of 3 previous lines of therapy (range 1,8). Median treatment duration was 3 months (IQR: 1-9.5). Median PFS was 5.7 months (95% CI, 3.8–8.7). At 12 and 18 months, 23.1% and 13.9% of patients, respectively, remained alive and progression-free. Corresponding OS rates at these time points were 60.2% and 51.5%. A confirmed ORR occurred in 12 patients (14.4%). Hypoxia occurred in 44 (53%) patients, median onset 31 days (range 1–270) and 29 (34.9%) required hospitalizations. Median hemoglobin (Hb) levels at baseline were 12.65 g/dl (range, 7.2-15.5), and 68 (82%) patients developed Hb decline on Belzutifan, 27 (32.5%) required transfusions. Conclusions: In an older, high-risk cohort with higher number of prior lines of therapy, Belzutifan yielded PFS/OS and ORR landmarks comparable to the trial supporting its effectiveness in the real world. Outcomes compared with LITESPARK-005 trial. Variable Real world cohort (Mayo Clinic) LITESPARK-005, Belzutifan arm Median PFS (months, 95% CI) 5.7 (3.8-8.7) 5.6 (3.9-7) 12-month PFS rate (%, 95% CI) 23.1% (14.4-33.4) 33.4% (28.4-33.5) 18-month PFS rate (%, 95% CI) 13.9% (7.7-23.9) 24% (19-29.4) 12-month OS rate (%, 95% CI) 60.2% (48.9-70.8) 67.9% (62.9-72.4) 18-month OS rate (%, 95% CI) 51.5% (40.6-62.9) 55.2% (50-60.1) ORR (%, 95% CI) 14.4% (7.7-23.9) 21.9% (17.8-26.5)