Treating patients with metastatic renal carcinoma: an escape from Phase III

The wide availability of drugs for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma has recently provided many alternatives for patients historically treated with immunotherapy alone. The six drugs currently available for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma became available to physicians after the approval processes performed by regulatory agencies, based mainly on the results of Phase III studies. Owing to the stringent entry criteria of the studies, patients are not representative of the entire population. Results of Phase III studies are extrapolated to all renal cell carcinoma populations without taking into account patients with different comorbidities. The purpose of this review is to analyze and weigh the safety data available for the drugs approved for metastatic renal cell carcinoma and to suggest the best therapy in terms of both efficacy and safety based on the multiplicity of features of each patient in relation to the main characteristics of each agent.