Neoadjuvant immunotherapy in non-metastatic renal adenocarcinoma

Prognostic factors were studied in 91 patients with diagnosed renal adenocarcinoma in stages pT1-4/N0-3/V0-2/M0. All patients had been treated with radical surgery, extended nephrectomy with or without cardiopulmonary by-pass and extracorporeal circulation in those cases with suprahepatic tumoral thrombosis.

The tumoral features which have a significant incidence on the patient's survival rate are the degree of cellular anaplasia, GI 72% vs GII 42% vs GIII 22% (p less than 0.0001); pathological stage, pT1-2 86% vs pT3 30% (p = 0.0000), perirenal fat invasion, pT1-2 86% vs pT3a 61% (p = 0.01); renal vein or cava vein invasion, V0 72% vs V1-2 30% (p less than 0.01) and gangliar affection. N0 69% vs N1-3 11% (p = 0.0000). Development of systemic disease is significantly high in pT3 stages (p = 0.0001), mainly in pT3a (p = 0.01), N1-3 (p less than 0.05) and/or V1-2 (p = 0.01). There is premature development of metastasis conditioning death before the second year o study in 90% of patients. In our opinion, patients with renal adenocarcinoma in stages pT3a/N0/M0, pT3b/N0/M0 and pT2-4/N1-3/M0 present a high potential risk of developing metastatic disease following radical surgery.

These patients, as well as those with high degree tumours and presumably minimum residual disease, are candidates for supplementary therapy with lymphokine immunotherapy (rIL-2,FNT, alpha or gamma IF, etc) with or without adoptive cellular immunotherapy (LAK or TIL) following radical surgery, and extended nephrectomy plus tumoral thrombectomy, if required, with or without cardiopulmonary bypass.

CITATION  Actas Urol Esp. 1990 Nov-Dec;14(6):396-400