Dr. Figlin on Advances in Immunotherapy for Kidney Cancer

Robert Figlin, MD, FACP, Professor of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Steven Spielberg Family Chair in Hematology Oncology, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, discusses recent advances in the field of immunotherapy for kidney cancer.

The role of immunotherapy in kidney cancer is as exciting as it has ever been, Figlin says. Following the approval of interleukin-2 (IL-2), many patients have been free of their cancer for decades, though challenges existed regarding toxicity and frequency of benefit.

Figlin says oncologists and researchers should be excited about the reintroduction of immunotherapies into the kidney cancer treatment paradigm in the form of checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab and nivolumab.