Dr. Sznol Discusses Immunotherapy in Non-Clear Cell Renal Cancer

Mario Sznol, MD, professor of medicine, co-director, Yale SPORE in Skin Cancer, Yale Cancer Center, discusses immunotherapy in non-clear cell renal cancer.

Amid the success of immunotherapy in clear cell renal cancer, Sznol says that patients with non-clear cell carcinomas should not be excluded from the conversation. About 25% of renal cell carcinomas are non-clear cell, yet the overwhelming majority of immunotherapy trials are for patients with clear cell carcinoma. There is anecdotal experience with papillary carcinoma and ductal carcinoma showing reasonable activity with PD-1 inhibitors as a single agent and in combination, according to Sznol.

Physicians in the community should be aware that immunotherapy agents are active in non-clear cell renal cancer, Sznol says. He says to not exclude those patients from trials, or from consideration for immunotherapy agents. The optimal use of immunotherapy in both clear cell and non-clear cell renal cancer is still not known, Sznol says, so community physicians should refer their patients to clinical trials.