Renal Cell Carcinoma

Xeloda for renal cell carcinoma – pro

Capecitabine is a novel fluoropyrimidine carbamate, orally administered and selectively activated to fluorouracil by a sequential triple enzyme pathway in liver and tumor cells.Oral capecitabine may be an active drug for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and is being evaluated in first- and second-line treatment schedules as monotherapy as well as in combination with immunotherapy agents. In preclinical studies, renal cell tumors demonstrated

Read more
Torisel and Avastin for renal cell carcinoma – pro

Combination of Avastin and Temsirollimus for solid tumors is in a trial in renal cell carcinoma, NCT00619268. The TORAVA trial is designed to evaluate the progression-free rate at 48 weeks of a combination of Torisel® and Avastin® given at first-line treatment in patients with metastatic renal cancer. In addition, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, in May, 2008 announced the initiation of the INTORACT (INvestigation of TORISEL and Avastin Combination Therapy)

Read more
Followup for renal cell carcinoma – pro

The guidelines recommend CT for routine followup of renal cel carcinoma patients on active treatment. Some guidelines recommend PET as well as an alternative or to supplement CT; however, CT remains the standard imaging modality for restaging. In regard to PET/CT, little reliable information exists. There is currently limited experience with FDG-PET and renal cell carcinoma. One of the first studies evaluating 29 patients with solid renal masses

Read more
Revlimid for renal cell carcinoma – pro

Thalidomide is an agent with complex antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory properties. It has been demonstrated to reduce mRNA and protein expression of bFGF and VEGF with resulting inhibitory effects on endothelial cell proliferation. Several small studies of thalidomide as a single agent in RCC have reported no complete responses, partial responses ranging from 0-17%, and stable disease in 17-64% of patients. In these studies, thalidomide was generally

Read more
Gemzar for renal cell carcinoma – pro

Lay Summary: Gemcitabine does not appear to be very active by itself in kidney cancer but may turn out to be effective in combinations. Gemcitabine has some dated phase II evidence in a phase II trial and the response rates were quite low. There are moore recent studies in combination with other drugs. Researchers from Italy recently conducted a small clinical trial evaluating the combination of Gemzar® , alfa interferon and Proleukin® in 16 patients

Read more
Chemotherapy for renal cell carcinoma – pro

Lay Summary: Chemotherapy is not effective for renal cell carcinoma, although sarcomatoid variants may fare better with chemotherapy. Chemotherapy in treating renal cell has had a poor record, even though cytotoxic drugs are the cornerstone of therapy for most solid malignancies. Sarcomatoid variants may respond better to chemotherapy but the evidence for this is scant. A comprehensive review of 83 trials involving more than 4,000 patients reported

Read more
Sarcomatoid variant of renal cell carcinoma and chemotherapy – pro

Chemotherapy is not generally considered appropriate for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), for which a variety of non-chemo agents have been FDA approved. However, the Sarcomatoid RCC has a worse prognosis than clear cell even when apparently localized, and many patients relapse after a nephrectomy. This entity is characterized by a high incidence of bone metastasis at presentation (48%) and by a tendency toward pathologic bone fractures. There is an impression

Read more
Avastin for renal cell cancer – pro

Avastin is an effective treatment for renal cell carcinoma. It is FDA approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma in combination with interferon alfa. This is based on the AVOREN study, which revealed that the addition of Avastin® (bevacizumab) to interferon improves progression-free survival when used as initial therapy among patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma(mRCC). The details of this randomized trial were presented

Read more
New Drug: Votrient for renal cell cancer – pro

Votrient(pazopanib) is a multi-targeted tyrosine kinase inhibitor and it is currently approved for renal cell carcinoma. VOTRIENT® is indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma(RCC). Pazopanib has not been compared to other agents for the treatment of RCC in clinical trials. Two published clinical trials have evaluated pazopanib in RCC. In one randomized, double-blind trial, median progression free survival was improved

Read more
High dose interleukin 2 for renal cell carcinoma – pro

SHigh-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2) results in objective clinical regression of metastatic cancer in 15% to 17% of patients with melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. Durable complete regression of all metastases is seen in 6% to 8% of patients. Based on these findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of high-dose IL-2 for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. Interleukin-2 administration

Read more