Kidney Cancer Clinical Trials & Research

Clinical trials are research studies that test new ways to treat your cancer. They test new treatments, procedures, or devices to see how well they work and whether they might be even more effective than the many standard strategies we already have established to treat kidney cancers. Clinical trials are an important part of helping to steadily improve our understanding of how to best prevent, treat, and cure cancer.

Trials can research a new diagnostic test for studying tumor tissue or a new medication or combination of medications. They can study a new way to do surgery or radiation therapy or a new type of scan.

Almost every cancer treatment given to patients was first tested during a clinical trial. That includes all of the medications now used to treat metastatic kidney cancer.

Doctors perform a clinical trial when they’re hopeful the new strategy is more effective than current treatment. Clinical trials may study:

  • A new medication that has not been tested in patients.
  • Applying an existing medication in a new way.
  • Combining 2 or more existing medications that have not been used together.

MSK’s kidney cancer team is leading clinical trials to investigate new therapies for people with kidney cancer. All our trials take place in a controlled, safe setting with teams of doctors, nurses, data coordinators, and imaging experts to make sure patients gain the best possible benefit as they participate in research studies. Researchers follow strict rules to make sure that clinical trials are as safe as possible.

Our group has led many clinical trials that resulted in medications being approved for use around the world. MSK carries out many clinical trials and is always adding new research studies. At MSK, we give our patients early access to promising new treatment options through these mechanisms. This research adds considerably to the ever-growing portfolio of options we can offer to our patients with kidney cancer.

We’re here for you. 

Get in touch.

Make an appointment with an MSK cancer expert. Call us, check out our locations, or get care from the comfort of your home with an MSK telemedicine visit. 

and/or
24 Clinical Trials found
A Phase 2 Study Assessing the Addition of Stereotactic Radiation Therapy to Immunotherapy for People With Advanced Kidney Cancer
Researchers want to see if adding radiation therapy to standard medical treatments works better than standard therapies alone in people with kidney cancer. The standard therapies include:
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase 2 Study of Cemiplimab and Fianlimab Before Surgery in People With Kidney Cancer
Researchers want to see if it is practical to give immunotherapy before kidney cancer surgery. The people in this study have no evidence of cancer spread in other parts of their body. Researchers also want to see if this treatment causes any delays in surgery. Immunotherapy is treatment that boosts the body's natural defenses to fight cancer.
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase 2 Study of Enfortumab Vedotin in People with Urothelial Cancer of the Upper Urinary Tract
Urothelial cancers can grow in different parts of the urinary tract. This includes the ureter (the tube that carries urine from the kidneys to the bladder) and renal pelvis. The renal pelvis is where the ureter connects to the kidneys. The standard treatment is surgery to remove the ureter, kidney, or both. In this study, researchers want to see if enfortumab vedotin, given before surgery, is useful for treating urothelial cancers. The people in this study have high-risk urothelial cancers of the upper urinary tract. High risk means there is a greater chance of the cancer coming back after treatment.
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase 2 Study of Raludotatug Deruxtecan in People With Advanced Solid Tumors
Researchers want to see how well raludotatug deruxtecan (R-DXd) works against advanced solid tumors. The people in this study have the following cancers, which have spread despite treatment:
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase 2 Study of Selinexor in People with Wilms' Tumors and Other Solid Tumors
Researchers want to see how well selinexor works in people with Wilms' tumor and other solid tumors. The people in this study are children and adults with tumors that depend on a protein called XPO1. XPO1 helps cancer cells grow by getting rid of proteins that can cause those cells to die (tumor suppressor proteins).
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase 3 Study Assessing the Addition of Tivozanib to Pembrolizumab Immunotherapy After Surgery for Kidney Cancer
Researchers want to see how well tivozanib plus pembrolizumab works in people with kidney cancer. The people in this study had surgery for renal cell carcinoma and have a high risk of it coming back.
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase IB/II Study of Immunotherapy and Targeted Combination Therapies in Patients with Kidney Cancer
The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and effectiveness of different combinations of drugs to treat advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma, a type of kidney cancer, in patients who have not received any prior treatment or who have recently developed worsening disease while receiving immunotherapy that targets the PD-1/PD-L1 proteins.
New York City
A Phase II Study of Combination Chemotherapy, Surgery, and Radiation Therapy for Patients with High-Risk Wilms' Tumors
This study is evaluating the safety and effectiveness of combination chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy in children and young adults with newly diagnosed stage II-IV diffuse anaplastic Wilms' tumors (DAWT) or favorable histology Wilms' tumors (FHWT) that have come back (relapsed).
New York City
A Phase II Study of Ipilimumab and Nivolumab Immunotherapy plus Cabozantinib to Treat Rare Advanced Genitourinary Cancers
The purpose of this study is to assess the safety and effectiveness of treating rare advanced genitourinary cancers with the immunotherapies nivolumab and ipilimumab plus the drug cabozantinib.
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau
A Phase III Study of Padeliporfin Vascular Targeted Photodynamic Therapy in People with Upper Tract Urothelial Cancer
Padeliporfin VTP (vascular targeted photodynamic) therapy uses targeted laser light to destroy cancer cells while causing minimal damage to the tissues around the cancer. In this study, researchers want to learn if padeliporfin VTP therapy is effective and safe for people with low-grade upper urothelial cancers (tumors of the kidney or ureter) that have not spread.
New York City, Commack, Basking Ridge, Westchester, Monmouth, Bergen, Nassau