The treatment of kidney cancer has been revolutionized in the last 12 years. A great deal of scientific study is being conducted to learn more about kidney cancer and how to treat it. Doctors are trying to learn more about kidney cancer, how to avoid it, how to treat it, and how to care for people diagnosed with it. Clinical trials, for example, can provide novel options for patients.
With the introduction of targeted therapy more than a decade ago, a significant shift has happened in treatment strategies for kidney cancer. Researchers have created drugs that target some of the changes in cells that cause cancer as they learn more about them. These targeted drugs are not the same as conventional chemotherapy drugs. They occasionally work when conventional chemotherapy drugs do not, and they frequently have different side effects.
Targeted drugs are particularly essential in kidney cancer, where chemotherapy has not proven to be very effective. Because most kinds of kidney cancer do not react well to standard chemotherapy, kidney cancer medication research focuses on immunotherapy and targeted therapy.
Targeted Therapy
Targeted therapy is a form of cancer treatment in which drugs or other substances are used to identify and attack specific cancer cells accurately. Targeted therapy can be used alone or with other treatments, such as standard or typical chemotherapy, surgery, or radiation therapy. If targeted therapy is part of your treatment plan, understanding how it works and what to anticipate can help you prepare for treatment and make informed decisions about your care.
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Targeted Therapy For Kidney Cancer
As targeted therapies for kidney cancer, several newly found drugs that affect the process of blood vessel development and/or cancer cell growth are being tested. The findings of several clinical studies indicate that these kinds of drugs may be effective treatments for kidney cancer, and this is a rapidly changing scientific field.
Drugs used as a part of targeted therapy are used to treat kidney cancer that has spread to other areas of the body (advanced or metastatic kidney cancer). Treatment aims to keep cancer under control for as long as feasible.
Many targeted therapies and immunotherapies are also being researched for use as adjuvant therapies, which are treatments administered after the primary treatment(s) to reduce the chance of recurrence and eliminate any remaining cancer cells. Sunitinib, a targeted therapy, delayed the return of cancer in patients with localised kidney cancer who were at high risk of recurrence after nephrectomy.
Sunitinib, axitinib, and other similar drugs have been developed to block a protein called the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR), which is essential in kidney cancer.
These targeted treatments were more successful than the first-line treatment at the time, interferon alpha, which only worked in a limited number of patients and had serious side effects. All of the targeted medicines are effective in treating advanced kidney cancer. They can often shrink or slow the development of cancer for a time, but none of these drugs, however, appear to be able to cure kidney cancer.
The majority of targeted drugs used to treat kidney cancer work by inhibiting angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels that feed cancer cells) or key proteins in cancer cells (called tyrosine kinases) that aid in cell growth and survival. Some targeted medicines affect both.
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Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors (TKIs) For Kidney Cancer
TKIs, or tyrosine kinase inhibitors, are a form of targeted therapy used to treat kidney cancer. Kinases are proteins that exist in the organism. They control how cells divide and develop. TKIs prevent proteins from transmitting messages within cancer cells. The cells perish as a result of this.
Some medicines also prevent cancer cells from forming new blood vessels. Because their intake of oxygen and nutrients is reduced, the tumour shrinks or stops growing.
The following TKIs are used to treat renal cell cancer (RCC), the most prevalent type of kidney cancer:
- sunitinib (Sutent®)
- pazopanib (Votrient®)
- tivozanib (Fotivda®)
- cabozantinib (Cabometyx®)
- axitinib (Inlyta®)
- Lenvatinib (Kisplyx®) is used in conjunction with another form of targeted therapy called everolimus – everolimus can also be used alone.
Evolving Strategies Of Kidney Cancer Treatment
Prior to introducing drugs such as sunitinib, kidney cancer had a poor prognosis, with a median overall survival of less than a year. However, immunotherapies are now assisting in extending life beyond three years.
Researchers are investigating whether they can identify tumour features, or biomarkers, that can help predict which therapy might work better in different people, in addition to studying different treatment sequences.
Ultimately, what matters most to patients is the effect of these new approaches on long-term survival. How many people have achieved remission? Are any people truly cured of kidney cancer?
Some novel treatments for advanced kidney cancer are also being tried as adjuvant therapy in some patients with less advanced disease who can be treated surgically, particularly those with stage III disease. Adjuvant trials are actively enrolling patients and physicians, and patients are encouraged to consider participating.