Importance of the field: The treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has evolved significantly over the past 5 years and targeted therapy has become the standard of care. However, complete and lasting responses to these drugs are still uncommon. Currently, novel agents are being tested in clinical trials.
Areas covered in this review: We discuss approved targeted agents in RCC and emphasize on emerging therapies. We searched the US National Library of Medicine (PubMed) using the terms 'renal cell carcinoma', 'targeted therapy' and 'novel agents', from 1990 to the present. We also searched for abstracts from the meetings of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and Genitourinary Cancers Symposium from 2007 to the present.
What the reader will gain: This paper provides understanding of the approved treatments for advanced RCC as well as the novel agents and their targeted biological pathways.
Take home message: Despite dynamic and recent advances in the management of metastatic RCC much about the molecular biology of this tumor has yet to be delineated. Even more so, strategies of sequential treatment, combination of targeted drugs, mechanisms of resistance, optimal dosages and scheduling remain areas of potential development interest.