Purpose of review: The aim of this review was to summarize the evidence on the current role of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).
Recent findings: Since the advent of systemic targeted therapies for mRCC treatment, the role of CN has been questioned. Several retrospective observational studies demonstrated a therapeutic benefit for CN, while recent prospective randomized trials have challenged this evidence. As such, patient selection has become of paramount importance in this setting. The role of CN on mRCC treatment is still object of debate. In carefully selected patients, CN remains an important option as a component of a multimodal therapeutic approach. As systemic therapies for mRCC continue to evolve, future trials are needed to evaluate the benefits and limits of CN in the immunotherapy era, tailoring the treatment sequence and selecting the patients who are most likely to benefit from surgical interventions.
Keywords: Cytoreductive nephrectomy; Immune checkpoints inhibitors; Kidney cancer; Metastatic renal cell carcinoma; Targeted therapy.
© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.