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KIDNEY CANCER

The role of nephrectomy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma

Cytoreductive nephrectomy is the current treatment paradigm for metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, the introduction of targeted therapies has dramatically changed the treatment landscape and may limit the role of nephrectomy in this disease. The recent CARMENA trial supports initial medical treatment of patients with RCC and synchronous metastases.

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Fig. 1: The management of patients with renal cell carcinoma and synchronous metastases.

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Correspondence to Viktor Grünwald.

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Competing interests

V.G. reports grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS), grants, personal fees and non-financial support from Merck Sharp and Dohme (MSD), personal fees and non-financial support from Roche, personal fees and non-financial support from Novartis, grants and personal fees from Pfizer, grants and personal fees from AstraZeneca, personal fees from Eisai, personal fees and non-financial support from Ipsen, personal fees from EUSA Pharma and personal fees from Cerulean. A.B. reports advisory boards from Pfizer, BMS, Ipsen, Roche and Genentech. He is the principle investigator of SURTIME and received a research grant from Pfizer and the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC).

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Grünwald, V., Bex, A. The role of nephrectomy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Nat Rev Nephrol 14, 601–602 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-018-0041-3

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