It has been established that immunotherapy (interferon or interferon plus other) is the best systemic therapy for kidney/renal cancer that has metastasised. In the past there had been recorded instances of regression of renal cancer metastases when the kidney (bearing the primary cancer ) was removed. It was theorised that the great bulk of cancer in the primary/kidney could lessen the chance of immunotherapy from working on the metastatic cancer elsewhere in the body. A trial just reported in the New England Journal (2001, vol 345 pages 1655-9) suggests that removal of the kidney harbouring the primary is indeed a wise step to perform and that the survival of patients undergoing this procedure plus interferon will be longer than similar patients who receive interferon alone.
