Abstract
Immunotherapy plays a crucial role in the treatment of patients with renal cell carcinoma. Metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) remains a therapeutic challenge because of its strong resistance to both chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This review explains the advancements of new biologics for the treatment of metastasized renal cell carcinoma with the use of cytokines, interleukin -2 (IL-2), lymphocyte killer cells (LKC), and IFN alpha. Several immunotherapeutic approaches are being in use for the management of the MRCC, which includes inactivated tumor cells and genetically modified tumor vaccines (GMTV), peptide-based vaccines, and dendritic cells. The role of CD4+ T cell and CD8+ immunity in tumor protection in animal models is also discussed.
Key words: Immunotherapy, metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC), vaccines, chemotherapy, cytokines, CD4+ T cell and CD8+ immunity, tumor protection, IFN alpha, peptide-based vaccines and dendritic cells.