Radiotherapy Treatment Demonstrated for Kidney Cancer Patients

Traditional treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma includes targeted drugs, or immunotherapy, and other system therapies, which have significant side effects.

The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center’s Kidney Cancer Program of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. The study was published in the May 1, 2017, issue of the journal International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, and Physics.

According to the researchers, the study demonstrates that some kidney cancer patients could even be cured using stereotactic radiation therapy, or alternatively systemic therapy could be delayed saving patients from the side effects of immunotherapy drugs.

In the US, five-year survival rates for stage 1 kidney cancer are 81%, for stage 3 approximately 53%, and for patients with stage 4 cancer only 8%. On the other hand five-year survival rates of patients with stage 4 kidney cancer treated at the UT Southwestern Kidney Cancer Program are double the US national benchmarks.

Senior author of the study and co-leader of the Kidney Cancer Program, Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology, Dr. Raquibul Hannan, said, “This study shows that stereotactic radiation provides a good non-invasive alternative to conventional treatment, and that it effectively controls the disease. It may also offer an alternative to patients who are not candidates for surgery due to the number and location of the metastases.”