Current and future aspect of immunotherapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been recognized as a cancer responsive to the activation of the immune system. In the 1980s, interferon-alpha and interleukin-2 were shown to prolong survival, but they were not widely used due to toxicities. Then, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor and mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitors demonstrated clinical benefits and became the principal treatment in the first- and second-line setting of metastatic RCC (mRCC). In recent years, the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is confirmed, either alone or in combination with ICI or antiangiogenic agents. ICI-based immunotherapies have now changed the landscape of treatment of mRCC. In this article, we will review the progress of immunotherapy in clear-cell mRCC. ? 2020 Iranian Journal of Nursing and Midwifery Research - Published by Wolters Kluwer -Medknow.