Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access originally published online on August 26, 2008
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2008 100(17):1202-1203; doi:10.1093/jnci/djn316
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© Oxford University Press 2008.
NEWS |
Major Treatment Improvements Encourage Kidney Cancer Researchers To Seek Further Gains
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Targeted therapies have improved clinical outcomes over the past several years for patients with advanced renal cell cancer. Data presented at this year's annual meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) showed that overall survival for previously untreated patients has increased from just over 1 year to more than 2, and patients who relapsed while being treated with antiangiogenesis therapies can benefit from treatment with a different targeted drug.
Researchers are cautiously optimistic that combinations of existing therapies will allow the trend to continue, though early trial data suggest that another substantial improvement will be hard to find with existing molecular targets and drugs. Some researchers, however, contend that extending median survival is no longer an adequate goal and that the field really should be pushing for curative therapy.
"This field had basically nothing—cytokines—for years and years, and with targeted therapy it has taken a quantum leap," said
First- and Second-line Therapies
Combining Agents
Pushing for the Next Advance