Cure in Advanced Renal Cell Cancer: Is It an Achievable Goal?

Background: Immunotherapy has historically been of interest in the management of metastatic renal cell cancer (mRCC) because of its relative chemoresistance and the reproducible but low incidence of spontaneous remission in metastatic disease. Recently, targeted immunotherapies in the form of checkpoint inhibitors have shown durable responses in approximately 20%-30% of patients with solid tumors, with a much more acceptable side-effect profile. Anti-programmed death receptor 1 (PD-1)/programmed death receptor ligand 1 antibodies rely on the presence of host T cells in the tumor microenvironment to be stimulated in order to activate an antitumor response.