Nephrectomy and Interleukin-2 for Metastatic Renal-Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

In this issue of the Journal, Flanigan et al.¹ report the results of a randomized trial conducted by the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG), which compared interferon alone with nephrectomy followed by interferon for the treatment of metastatic renal-cell cancer. There was a survival advantage in the surgery-plus-interferon group, as well as in all the risk strata. Similar results have been demonstrated in Europe by the Genito-Urinary Group of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer, in a study with a similar protocol.² However, the issue of the most effective immunotherapeutic agent to use after nephrectomy is still unsettled because no prospective trials have addressed this question. We used our program's Kidney Cancer Database, containing the records of more than 450 patients with metastatic renal-cell cancer who have received immunotherapy, to obtain survival data on patients treated with interleukin-2 after undergoing nephrectomy.