Incidence of symptomatic hypoxia in a high-altitude cohort of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with belzutifan.

Journal of Clinical Oncology 2026 Open access

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Authors: Taylor Ryan McFarland, Audrey Seidel, Georges Gebrael, Zeynep İrem Özay, Gabriel A. Hooper, Micah Ostrowski, Richard Ji, Varun Nandakumar, Haoran Li, Benjamin L. Maughan, Umang Swami, Julia Anne Batten
+1 more Neeraj Agarwal
DOI: 10.1200/jco.2026.44.7_suppl.488
Cited by: 1

Abstract

488 Background: Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF-2α) is a transcription factor that allows for adaptation to environments with decreased oxygen availability. It is also dysregulated in RCC. The FDA has recently approved belzutifan, a HIF-2α inhibitor, for the treatment of metastatic RCC (mRCC) following the results of the LITESPARK-005 trial (NCT04195750). However, oxygen availability decreases with altitude, and it’s estimated that 943 million people worldwide live above 1000 meters in elevation. The effect of altitude on belzutifan treatment has not yet been reported. Here, for the first time, we present detailed safety data on a high-altitude cohort of patients with mRCC treated with belzutifan. Methods: In this IRB approved retrospective study, the inclusion criteria were diagnosis of mRCC and treatment with belzutifan. Patients with germline VHL syndrome were excluded. An SpO 2 of

Fields of Study & Subjects

Cancer Hypoxia and Metabolism High Altitude and Hypoxia Biological Research and Disease Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Journal of Clinical Oncology
Publisher
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
Volume
44
Issue
7_suppl
Pages
488–488
Publication date
1 March 2026
Language
EN