Eisai Co. has announced that LENVIMA (generic name: lenvatinib mesylate), the multiple receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor discovered by the Japanese firm Eisai, in combination with Merck's KEYTRUDA (generic name: pembrolizumab) has been approved in Taiwan for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). 

The approval is based on results from the CLEAR (Study 307)/KEYNOTE-581 trial evaluating the combination for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced RCC.

Worldwide, it is estimated there were more than 430,000 new cases of kidney cancer diagnosed and more than 180,000 deaths from the disease in 2020.  In Taiwan, there were more than 1,400 new cases and more than 600 deaths in 2018.

Renal cell carcinoma is by far the most common type of kidney cancer; about nine out of 10 kidney cancer diagnoses are RCC.