Definitive radiotherapy in lieu of systemic therapy for oligometastatic renal cell carcinoma

The role of radiotherapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma is controversial. A prospective study at MD Anderson Cancer Center (Houston, TX) tested the feasilibity and efficacy of radiotherapy for select patients with oligometastatic renal cell carcinoma. The study found that radiotherapy was feasible and resulted in median progression-free survival of 22.7 months (95% CI 10.4-not reached); the one-year PFS was 64% (95% CI 48-85). The authors conclude that sequential radiotherapy might facilitate deferral of systemic therapy initiation and could allow sustained systemic therapy breaks for patients with oligometastatic RCC.