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Researchers from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle have published a study showing that cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) (removal of the kidney containing the tumour) is associated with improved overall survival compared with systemic therapy (without nephrectomy) in people with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The study was published in the Urology journal.
537 mRCC patients were studied using data from 2006–2011. Of these patients, 190 had CN followed by targeted therapy and 347 had targeted therapy alone. Median overall survival was 17.4 months for the patients who had CN compared with 9.2 months for patients receiving targeted therapy alone. Median OS was 20.5 months for patients undergoing initial systemic targeted therapy with deferred CN. The researchers reported a 5.8 month survival advantage for initial CN, while systemic targeted therapy was associated with a 2-fold increased risk of death compared with initial CN.
