The therapy of renal adenocarcinoma with immune RNA

Twenty-five patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and ten patients with minimum residual disease, but at high risk of recurrence after surgery, received weekly intradermal injections of purified RNA extracted from lymphoid organs of sheep immunized with human renal cell carcinoma. A retrospective control group consisted of 86 consecutive patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma from the same institution. Group survival was notable in RNA-treated patients who had multiple metastases limited to the lungs when compared with matched controls. Therapy did not influence the survival of patients with metastases to other sites or with multiple organ involvement. Eight of ten patients with minimum residual disease remained free of recurrence from 16 to 36 months after the initiation of therapy. Toxicity of RNA therapy was minimal. Changes in skin test response to dinitrochlorobenzene and common antigens, and levels of lymphocyte-mediated cytotoxicity and complement-fixing antibody, were primarily related to changes in tumor burden. Immune RNA therapy may be of value in selected patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma and as adjunctive therapy after definitive surgery.