This module will review the use of cytokines for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma. Cytokine treatment with interferon-alfa or IL-2 was the only systemic treatment available for metastatic renal cell carcinoma until the recent development of targeted agents. Although most patients do not respond to high-dose IL-2, a small proportion of patients respond quite well, achieving durable complete responses. The module will review the clinical trials leading to these findings. The benefit of adding nephrectomy to cytokine therapy is then discussed, as is the potential benefit of adding targeted agents to cytokine therapy. Multiple targeted agents are being evaluated in combination with cytokines, as these agents may enhance the efficacy of cytokine therapy. Finally, the module will review strategies for predicting responses to cytokine therapy. Subsets of pathological and molecular features may help individualize treatment by identifying which patients may respond best to cytokine vs targeted therapy.




MODULE I
Slide Deck 4 Objectives and Outcomes of Cytokine Therapy
Michael B. Atkins, MD
Deputy Chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology
Director of Biologic Therapy and Cutaneous Oncology Programs
Director, Cancer Clinical Trials Office
Associate Director for Clinical Research
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Leader, Kidney Cancer Program
Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center
Professor of Medicine
Harvard Medical School
Boston, Massachusetts

References
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