The management of isolated renal recurrence of renal cell carcinoma following complete response to interleukin-2 based immunotherapy.

The role of interleukin-2 based immunotherapy in advanced renal cell carcinoma is gradually expanding. Among patients who achieve significant responses to these regimens the subsequent development of isolated recurrences raises difficult management questions. We report 2 unusual cases of isolated recurrence in the remaining kidney following a sustained, complete response to interleukin-2 based adoptive immunotherapy. Both patients were treated with interleukin-2 based therapy following surgical resection of the primary renal tumor. The disease course of each patient is described and the literature is reviewed. Both patients were free of disease after relatively short-term followup. Surgery for patients with limited recurrence of renal cell carcinoma following an objective response to immunotherapy may, in select cases, be a reasonable treatment alternative.