The number of drugs available to fight advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has improved significantly in the last 10 years. Surgery for locally advanced, non-metastatic RCC remains the best chance of a cure for these people; however, in about one-third of patients their cancer comes back after they have had a nephrectomy. Clinical trials exploring the use of drug treatment after surgery to prevent recurrence of the cancer (adjuvant therapy) in these patients have produce conflicting results.

“To date we can’t assign our patients to adjuvant therapy in clinical practice,” Francesco Massari, MD, of the division of oncology at S. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital in Bologna, Italy, told Cancer Therapy Advisor. “The standard of care is watch and wait or to try to enrol them in a clinical trial of adjuvant therapy.”

This article reviews the clinical trials for adjuvant therapy with targeted therapies, such as sunitinib, sorafenib and pazopanib.

Read the article in Cancer Therapy Advisor here