This newsletter, Clinical Case Critiques: Practical Strategies for the Management of Renal Cell Carcinoma, is the fourth and final newsletter in our educational series. If you haven’t already done so, we hope you will read the entire series, Emerging Treatment Paradigms in Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Continuing Education Resource for the Oncology Professional.

To briefly review, in the first newsletter, RCC: Current Status and New Therapeutic Directions, we discuss the epidemiology of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a cancer that has been increasing in incidence by about 2% per year and, along with other kidney and renal pelvic cancers, accounts for about 13,000 deaths each year. We also consider RCC phenotypes and prognosis, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic workup, and staging, as well as established and emerging therapies. The second newsletter, Clinical Advances in RCC: Putting Them Into Practice, focuses on translating into clinical practice the advances in therapy that have been demonstrated in the most recent trials. Employing a case-based approach, it was designed to assist practicing oncologists in incorporating appropriate risk assessment, diagnostic tools, and treatments into their management of patients with RCC based on approved guidelines. The third newsletter, Critical Molecular Pathways in the Development and Progression of RCC, reviews current knowledge regarding the molecular pathways involved in the development and progression of RCC, while highlighting new agents that interrupt these signaling cascades. It also summarizes emerging studies evaluating the efficacies and patient outcomes associated with these novel agents.

In this fourth newsletter, I have been given the opportunity to share my clinical expertise through a variety of clinically inspired case situations. In support of each suggestion, you will find empirical evidence for each treatment selection. In those challenging clinical conundrums where FDA-approved therapy is not yet available, you may want to consider the host of clinical trials that may be applicable to many of your patients’ situations.

Sincerely,