[Comment] Belzutifan: enhancing the blockade of angiogenesis in renal cell carcinoma

In The Lancet Oncology, Toni K Choueiri and colleagues1 report the findings from cohort 2 of a phase 2 trial of belzutifan plus cabozantinib in patients with renal cell carcinoma who had previously received an with one previous immune checkpoint inhibitor (28 [54%] of 52 patients enrolled) or immunotherapy and an anti-VEGF or anti-VEGFR tyrosine-kinase inhibitor (24 [46%]). The results were promising, with a confirmed objective response rate of 30·8% (95% CI 18·7–45·1).1 The additional effect of belzutifan is highlighted by the indirect comparison with the phase 3 METEOR trial,2 in which cabozatinib had an objective response rate of 17% (95% CI 13–22) in patients pretreated with tyrosine-kinase inhibitors.