Successful complete resection and recurrence-free outcome in renal cell carcinoma with vena cava tumor thrombus: Neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-based combination therapies

Abstract

Treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) typically involves surgery, even in challenging cases (ie, inferior vena cava [IVC] tumor thrombus, stage 3b [T3b] disease). Although tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI)-based neoadjuvant therapy shrinks primary tumors for resection, its benefit for T3b disease is limited, and no guidelines recommend it. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) combinations and TKIs plus ICIs provide new options for unresectable/metastatic RCC, but reports on ICI-based neoadjuvant therapy for T3b disease are scarce, and none describes survival after cytoreductive nephrectomy. In the present study, we have experienced three cases of advanced RCC with level 2 IVC thrombus, in which neoadjuvant therapy with different types of ICI-based combination therapies was utilized. This approach resulted in significant tumor reduction, regression of thrombus, and successful laparoscopic radical nephrectomy. Pathological analysis confirmed complete responses and no residual carcinoma, including metastatic sites. Notably, no recurrence was observed over 1.5 years in all cases. ICI-based neoadjuvant therapy may facilitate curative resection and prolong progression-free survival in advanced RCC. ICI-based neoadjuvant therapy may facilitate curative resection and prolong progression-free survival in advanced RCC.