Comparison of survival rates in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma according to treatment era including cytokine and targeted therapy.

We compared the survival rates in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma between the cytokine and molecular targeted therapy era. The study included 321 patients who were diagnosed with metastatic renal cell carcinoma between 1987 and 2011. The patients were divided into two groups according to when they started therapy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma: in the cytokine era (1987-2007) and in the targeted therapy era (after 2008). The beginning of the follow-up period was defined as the time of discovery of metastasis occurrence. Cytokine and targeted therapy eras included 235 and 86 patients, respectively. Seventy-five percent of the patients in the cytokine era actually received cytokine therapy. Eighty-one percent of the patients in the targeted therapy era received targeted therapy and 14% received both cytokine and targeted therapy. There were no significant differences in overall survival rates (cytokine 29 months, targeted 38 months, P = 0.1789).