A survey of therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is very resistant to both chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Localized disease can be cured by surgery but most patients are diagnosed when distant metastases are already present and about 30% of patients relapse after nephrectomy. Until 2 years ago, cytokine-based immunotherapy (interleukin-2 and interferon-alpha) was the only therapeutic option for advanced RCC patients. Fewer than 20% of patients benefit from this treatment, but some of these may experience very prolonged complete responses and progression-free intervals, suggesting a possibility of cure in a very few cases. Thanks to our expanding knowledge of the biology and pathogenesis of RCC, the treatment of this disease has recently undergone a major advance, through the development of potent angiogenesis inhibitors and targeted agents. Bevacizumab, an antibody directed against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), has shown significant activity in combination with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). Sunitinib and sorafenib, multikinase inhibitors with proven antiangiogenic activity, have also been approved for the treatment of this tumor. Finally, temsirolimus and everolimus, which belong to the family of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), have shown some activity in selected patients. The aim of this paper is to review clinical trials with these new agents, describing their activity and profiles of toxicity, and to evaluate potential future developmental strategies.