Abstract
The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) has been shown to be an important target mechanism in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In first-line treatment for patients with disease having poor prognostic features, temsirolimus, an mTOR inhibitor approved for treatment of advanced RCC, has demonstrated benefit over interferon alfa in both overall and progression-free survival. Everolimus, a second mTOR inhibitor that has showed activity in RCC, led to improved progression-free survival in a comparison with placebo in patients whose RCC progressed after treatment with vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (sunitinib, sorafenib, or both). There is now compelling clinical evidence for the effectiveness of targeting mTOR in the treatment of RCC.