Two presentations at the International Kidney Cancer Symposium 2019 in Miami earlier this month discuss the use of two novel biomarkers for imaging metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Dr Allan Pantuck from the University of California, Los Angeles spoke about carbonic anhydrase IX (CAIX) as a non-invasive molecular marker for clear cell RCC. Tumours that are negative for the CAIX marker on a CT or positron emission tomography (PET) scan, are candidates for active surveillance; these patients should avoid surgery. Patients with a positive, localised CAIX tumour should have surgery to remove the tumour. CAIX can also be used for staging the cancer and identifying metastatic disease, and patients with a positive metastatic CAIX tumour should have surgery followed by targeted therapy.

Watch the CAIX video on Oncology Tube here

Dr Alex Bowman from the Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas spoke about the use of radioactive atezolizumab in PET scans for the detection of immunotherapy receptors (PD-L1) in patients with RCC. This test could be used as a non-invasive biomarker for RCC tumours that will respond to immunotherapy treatment.

Watch the atezolizumab video on Oncology Tube here