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Volume 345:1655-1659 December 6, 2001 Number 23 Next

	Full Text PDF Editorial by Tannock, I. F. Add to Personal Archive Add to Citation Manager Notify a Friend E-mail When Cited PubMed Citation

ABSTRACT

Background The value of nephrectomy in metastatic renal-cell cancer has long been debated. Several nonrandomized studies suggest a higher rate of response to systemic therapy and longer survival in patients who have undergone nephrectomy.

Methods We randomly assigned patients with metastatic renal-cell cancer who were acceptable candidates for nephrectomy to undergo radical nephrectomy followed by therapy with interferon alfa-2b or to receive interferon alfa-2b therapy alone. The primary end point was survival, and the secondary end point was a response of the tumor to treatment.

Results The median survival of 120 eligible patients assigned to surgery followed by interferon was 11.1 months, and among the 121 eligible patients assigned to interferon alone it was 8.1 months (P=0.05). The difference in median survival between the two groups was independent of performance status, metastatic site, and the presence or absence of a measurable metastatic lesion.

Conclusions Nephrectomy followed by interferon therapy results in longer survival among patients with metastatic renal-cell cancer than does interferon therapy alone.

Source Information

From the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, Maywood, Ill. (R.C.F.); the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson (S.E.S.); the Southwest Oncology Group Statistical Center, Seattle (B.A.B.); the University of Colorado, Denver (S.I.B., E.D.C.); the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City (V.R.); the University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington (P.C.M.); Brook Army Medical Center–Wilford Hall Medical Center, San Antonio, Tex. (J.R.C.); and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock (N.M.).

Address reprint requests to the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG-8949), Operations Office, 14980 Omicron Dr., San Antonio, TX 78245-3217, or at rflanig{at}luc.edu.

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