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Minerva Urologica e Nefrologica 2010 December;62(4):411-23

Copyright © 2010 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

mTOR-inhibition in metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Focus on temsirolimus: a review

Gerullis H. ^{1, 2, 3}, Ecke T. H. ⁴, Eimer C. ¹³, Heuck C. J. ⁵, Otto T. ^{1, 3} ✉

¹ Department of Urology, Lukas Hospital, Neuss, Germany; ² West German Cancer Center (WTZ), University of Essen, Essen, Germany; ³ German Centre for Assessment and Evaluation of Innovative Techniques in Medicine (DZITM); ⁴ Department of Urology, HELIOS Hospital, Bad Saarow, Germany; ⁵ Montefiore Medical Center, Department of Medical Oncology, The Albert Einstein Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA

The potent inhibitor of the mammalian target of rapamycin, temsirolimus, comprises for cell cycle, angiogenesis and proliferation and has proven beneficial in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Temsirolimus is officially approved for first line therapy in high risk previously untreated mRCC patients. This review summarizes the current clinical role of temsirolimus in the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma with regard to pharmacological features, toxicity and tolerability. It particularily discusses quality of life issues as important outcome parameters in palliative treatment of patients with mRCC and gives an outlook on current clinical developments regarding possible future combining/ sequencing strategies of temsirolimus.