[Renal cell carcinoma: which criteria to define antiangiogenic treatment failure? A case report]

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Pharmacology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Antiangiogenic treatments are crucial in cancer therapy, but determining when to switch therapies remains difficult.
• Current response evaluation criteria, such as RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria In Solid Tumors), have limitations in assessing treatment efficacy.

Observation:

• Contrast-enhanced ultrasonography (CEUS) presents a potential alternative or supplementary tool for evaluating treatment response.
• Accurate interpretation of CEUS requires standardized techniques and clearly defined functional parameters.

Findings:

• Failure to respond to antiangiogenic therapy is not always indicated by side effects, which can have other causes.
• Asthenia is a common side effect (over 50% of patients) but necessitates excluding other etiologies, such as hypothyroidism.

Implications:

• Standardization of novel imaging techniques like CEUS is essential for reliable assessment of antiangiogenic treatment efficacy.
• A comprehensive approach, integrating clinical, radiological, and biological data, is needed to accurately define treatment failure and optimize patient management.