title: Immunotherapy and gene therapy.
abstract: Currently, there are many options for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Being a mostly chemoresistant malignancy, renal cell carcinoma is usually treated with immunotherapy. These therapies are generally based on interleukin-2 (IL-2) or interferon alfa (IFN-alpha), or involve more novel techniques such as gene therapy. IL-2 is a biological agent that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and leads to durable remissions in a subset of patients with metastatic RCC. Patients presenting with a good performance status and without serious concomitant cardiac or pulmonary disorders should be considered for IL-2-based therapy as first-line treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine 90095-7059, USA.
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Gitlitz
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Belldegrun
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Figlin
mesh_terms: D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000628:therapy*; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006801:Humans; D007167:Immunotherapy; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis