Immunotherapy has been a pillar of the renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treatment landscape for over three decades. Some of the earliest cancer immunotherapies available, such as interleukin 2 and interferon-alpha, have resulted in complete responses, but only in a small number of patients. Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), however, have demonstrated improved response rates and prolonged survival for a greater number of patients, fully transforming the standard of care in first-line and subsequent-line settings. More recently, ICIs are also being used in the adjuvant setting for high-risk patients. However, treatment with ICIs requires a nuanced understanding of topics such as patient selection, histology and risk considerations, and integration with local therapies. As such, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) convened a panel of experts to develop this clinical practice guideline (CPG) on immunotherapy for the treatment of RCC. Drawing from published data and clinical experience, the Expert Panel developed evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations. Topics include therapy selection in the adjuvant and metastatic settings, considerations for special patient populations, response monitoring, and patient education and quality of life considerations, among others, with the goal of improving patient care by providing guidance to the oncology community.
Journal for immunotherapy of cancer. 2026 Mar 23*** epublish ***
Rana R McKay, Archana Ajmera, Michael B Atkins, Pedro C Barata, Cristiane Bergerot, Laura Bukavina, Toni K Choueiri, Arpita Desai, A Ari Hakimi, Susan Poteat, Thomas Powles, Brian I Rini, Brian Shuch, Sabina Signoretti, Shankar Siva, Wenxin Xu, Wesley Yip, Tian Zhang, Sumanta K Pal
Departments of Medicine and Urology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA ., Department Hematology-Oncology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA., Department of Oncology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA., Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA., Department of Supportive Care, Oncoclinicas and Co - Medica Scientia Innovation Research (MEDSIR), Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil., Department of Urology, Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological Institute, Cleveland, Ohio, USA., Department of Medical Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA., Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, California, USA., Department of Surgery, Urology Service, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA., KidneyCAN, Beavercreek, Ohio, USA., Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, Greater London, UK., Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA., Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, USA., Department of Pathology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA., Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia., Department of Surgery, City of Hope, Duarte, California, USA., Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA., Department of Medical Oncology and Therapeutics Research, City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center, Duarte, California, USA.