[Radiotherapy of kidney cancers: an allegory for changing approach in theory and practice]

The evolution of radiotherapy (RT) technologies in the last two decades has changed the RT treatment attitude, and the routine application of novel stereotactic methods has opened new avenues in the complex cancer care. To prove the clinical consequences of this paradigm shift, a good example is the transformation of the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment strategy. RCC was originally considered as a radioresistant disease, however, the introduction of new RT technologies has provided a risk-free focal dose escalation, so RT in primary or metastatic RCCs has become a more efficient method. Meanwhile, there has also been a spectacular development in the medical treatment of advanced RCC, thus the treatment strategy has radically changed in this field of oncology, resulting in a remarkably increased effectiveness. In the present communication, we summarize the steps of recent RT evolution, the new fields of indications and possibilities of combination therapies in RCC.