Intermittent Therapy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Treated With Ipilimumab and Nivolumab

This study is being done with patients with advanced kidney cancer (also called renal cell carcinoma or RCC). This is a research study involving the use of the drug Nivolumab (also known as Opdivo®). Nivolumab is an anti-PD-1 antibody. It works by attaching to and blocking a molecule called PD-1. PD-1 is a protein that is present on different types of cells in the immune system and controls parts of the immune system by shutting it down. Antibodies that block PD-1 can potentially prevent PD-1 from shutting down the immune system, thus allowing it to recognize and help destroy cancer cells. In many countries (including the United States, European Union and Japan) Nivolumab is approved to treat certain cancer types. The purpose of the study is to test the safety and effectiveness of nivolumab in patients with advanced RCC when given intermittently. Nivolumab is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of advanced kidney cancer, non small cell lung cancer, classical Hodgkin Lymphoma and Metastatic Melanoma. Nivolumab is FDA-approved for advanced RCC because has been shown to shrink RCC tumors that have spread outside the kidney.