A case report of robot-assisted radical nephrectomy and inferior vena cava thrombectomy in a patient with renal cell carcinoma after pembrolizumab and axitinib combination therapy

Background: Robot-assisted surgery is widely performed for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with inferior vena cava (IVC) tumor thrombi. Although many chemotherapeutic options are available for the treatment of unresectable RCC, there are very few reports on robot-assisted radical nephrectomy (RARN) with inferior vena cava thrombectomy (IVCT) after presurgical treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors and tyrosine kinase inhibitors. We believe that pre-surgical treatment can provide minimally invasive surgical benefits to high-risk patients during the perioperative period.

Case description: A 77-year-old male with right RCC that invaded the IVC (cT3bN0M0, Mayo classification level III) underwent pembrolizumab and axitinib combination therapy because he had high surgical risk due to angina pectoris. The level of the tumor thrombus decreased from level III to II, and RARN with IVCT was then performed. Surgery was performed without complications, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day seven. The pathological diagnosis was clear cell RCC (ypT3b, G2). Adjuvant chemotherapy using pembrolizumab monotherapy is still ongoing.

Conclusions: In this report, the inferior vena cave tumor thrombus level was down staged from level III to level II by treatment with pembrolizumab and axitinib. RARN with IVCT was safely performed without complication completely under robotic assistance.