Net Guides: Renal Cell Carcinoma

//THE ONLINE ONCOLOGIST

UroSource.com is a Website designed to provide physicians with the latest news and information related to urology. Articles are sorted into various urology topics, including renal cell carcinoma (RCC). They are further categorized as key articles, conference reports, expert reviews, and more. Most of the articles summarize the findings from a new study and explain how those findings may impact clinical practice. UroSource also features study abstracts, book reviews of urology publications, and clinical practice guidelines for various urological diseases and procedures. Other features from UroSource include Webcasts, a free e-newsletter, and a calendar of upcoming urology meetings and events.

http://tinyurl.com/22wgx4r

//THE EDUCATED PATIENT®

Healthcommunities.com — kidney cancer Healthcommunities.com comprises a series of websites from Remedy Health Media designed to provide people with medical information on a wide range of topics. The oncologychannel.com website features a number of articles on kidney cancer. These include an overview, signs and symptoms, risk factors, diagnosis, laboratory tests, pathology, and staging. Articles on kidney cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, and alternative treatments, are also provided. The last several pages discuss kidney cancer types, benign kidney tumors, and questions to ask one’s doctor.

http://tinyurl.com/2dukx99

//ONLINE CME

Therapeutic options for first-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma

Credits: 0.50

Fee: None

Expires: November 16, 2011 This CME activity is designed to review prognostic factors in considering therapy for RCC based on Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC) criteria and available drug options, as well as the criteria for single-agent versus combination or sequential therapy. The activity consists of a slideshow, presented by Robert J. Motzer, MD, of MSKCC in New York. This slideshow can be viewed as a video with audio, or the slides may be downloaded and the transcript may be viewed. On completing this activity, participants should be able to compare and contrast the safety and efficacy of current systemic treatment methods for metastatic RCC. Participants should also be able to make treatment decisions for patients with various clinical presentations of metastatic RCC.

http://tinyurl.com/27fzala

//eABSTRACT

Bone metastases from renal cell carcinoma: patient survival after surgical treatment

Journal: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Authors: Fottner A, Szalantzy M, Wirthmann L, et al Purpose: Chemotherapy and radiation have been shown to have little effect on survival when treating skeletal metastases of RCC. There- fore, surgery is the current primary method of treatment in this setting.

The authors of this study examined factors that may affect the survival of patients surgically treated for skeletal metastases of RCC. For the study, the authors retrospectively reviewed 101 patients who underwent surgery for skeletal metastases of RCC from 1980 to 2005, then calculated the overall survival using the Kaplan-Meier method. A log-rank test was used to evaluate different variables’ effects. Results: Of the patients included in the study, 54 had concomitant visceral metastases, 27 had solitary bone metastases, and 20 had multiple bone metastases. Overall survival for 1, 2, and 5 years was 58%, 37%, and 12%, respectively. Patients with solitary bone metastases were found to have a better rate of survival as compared to patients with multiple metastases. Factors that were found to predict high survival rates were age younger than 65 years, no pathologic fractures, and tumor-free resection margins. Variables that had no effect on survival included gender, location of metastases, time between diagnosis of RCC and treatment of metastatic disease, incidence of local recurrence, radiation, and chemotherapy. Based on the data found, the authors concluded that patients with solitary metastases or few resectable metastases are candidates for wide resections.

//CLINICAL TRIAL

Vorinostat and isotretinoin in treating patients with advanced kidney cancer

Study Type: Interventional

Age/Sex Requirements: 21 years (None)

Sponsor: Weill Medical College of Cornell University ClinicalTrials.gov

Identifier: NCT00324740

Purpose: This nonrandomized clinical trial will be testing a combination of vorinostat and isotretinoin in the treatment of patients with advanced RCC. Vorinostat is made from suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid, and works by inhibiting certain enzymes required for tumor cell growth. Isotretinoin, made from 13- Cis retinoic acid, may cause cancer cells to appear more like healthy cells and slow their growth and spread.

In phase 1 of the study, patients will receive oral vorinostat and oral isotretinoin twice daily on days 3-5, 10-12, 17-19, and 24-26, repeated every 28 days in the absence of disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Cohorts of 3 to 6 patients will receive escalating doses of isotretinoin until the maximum tolerated dose is deter- mined, defined as the dose preceding that at which 2 of 6 patients experience dose-limiting toxicity. In phase 2 of the study, patients will receive vorinostat and isotretinoin at the maximum tolerated dose determined in phase 1, on the same schedule used in phase 1is a better method for achieving local tumor control and increasing survival than chemotherapy or radiation, which are ineffective in most patients.

http://tinyurl.com/2e9ycpk

http://bit.ly/hPAmMG