Sarcomatoid Renal Cell Carcinoma, or Renal cell carcinoma with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation: Review of literature
Fadwa Oudad, Rajaa Karam, Nezha Tawfiq, Hassan Jouhadi, Rachid Aboutaieb, Mehdi Karkouri, Mouna Bourhafour, Zineb Bouchbika, Nadia Benchakroun, Souha Sahraoui, Abdellatif Benider
Our understanding of the biology and pathophysiology of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has greatly
improved over the last decade. Understanding the disease process has helped us discover new histological
subtypes and develop newer therapeutic approaches.
Although it is considered a histological subtype of all renal cell carcinomas (RCC), sarcomatoid renal
cell carcinoma (sRCC) has been shown throughout the few cases found in the literature that it has a
poorer prognosis and seems to not benefit from its historical 1st line treatment which is targeted agents
such as sunitinib.
In this article, we will look at the characteristics of sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (sRCC) and how
various drugs are currently used to treat it.
This article also examines the immune system's role in allowing sRCC growth and how the immune
system can be manipulated to reactivate cytotoxic immunity against sRCC.
Indeed, the expansion of immunotherapies approved for sRCC has generated a search for biomarkers
that might be indicative of treatment response in sarcomatoid RCCs (sRCCs), such as PDL1 expression,
suggesting a potential benefit from PD1 and/or PDL1 immune checkpoint inhibitors.
