Pulmonary metastasectomy in renal cell carcinoma: a mainstay of multidisciplinary treatment

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains a public health issue and seems to be increasing. A significant proportion of RCC patients will develop pulmonary metastasis at some point in their evolution. In this review, we aimed to update the surgical management of pulmonary metastases as well as systemic therapy, including targeted therapies, according to recent data in the literature. We retrospectively reviewed studies evaluating the benefit of pulmonary metastasectomy in RCC patients and evaluating the place of different chemotherapies, targeted therapies and immunotherapies through November 1, 2019. Several retrospective studies have shown the benefit of pulmonary metastasectomy in metastatic RCC (mRCC), most in a situation with only pulmonary metastases. According to the prognostic criteria of the IMDC risk model, the patient is classified into a prognostic group to identify the best systemic treatment. With the development of targeted therapies, the modalities are multiple and may involve tyrosine kinase inhibitors/checkpoint inhibitors and soon vaccine therapy or CAR-T cells. At the local level, in patients who cannot benefit from surgery, stereotactic radiotherapy or radiofrequency has a place to be considered. Although there is a lack of a randomized study, pulmonary metastasectomy appears to be feasible and effective. The place and modalities of systemic therapies in the era of targeted therapies remain to be more clearly defined.