Treatment, Outcome and Prognostic Factors in Renal Cell Carcinoma - A Single Center Study (2000-2010)

In Switzerland efficient availability of novel drugs for renal cell cancer (RCC) has been granted early. Since the advent of the targeted agents for RCC the usage of these drugs has been reported to improve progression free survival. Here, we find that patients who are able to receive sequential targeted therapy, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and mTOR inhibitors (mTORi), have a largely better outcome than those who have less exposure to these agents. The value of the prognostic scores developed by Motzer and Heng is fully reflected by the outcomes according to prognostic risk groups in our unselected patient cohort. Also, the use of surgical intervention appears to be an important prognostic factor, however with a somehow diminished effect by novel systemic therapies. The importance of multiple lines of targeted therapies is underlined by this retrospective analysis. For patients with metastatic RCC not receiving targeted therapy the median OS was 22.6 months compared to those with one TKI 25.4 months. Patients receiving a second-line therapy (median overall survival 27.6 months) and those patients with three or more lines of therapy (43.8 months) have the greatest benefit. Also, exposure to a mTORi improves survival versus non-exposure to mTORi (63.3 vs. 22.3 months, p=0.038). In conclusion a trend towards improved survival is confirmed for an unselected population when the full variety of therapeutic options is available and can be used for the individual patient.