Timeline of kidney cancer

This is a timeline of kidney cancer, describing especially major discoveries and advances in treatment of the disease.

Big picture

Year/period	Key developments
19th century	First descriptions of renal carcinoma are recorded. Nephrectomy is developed.
20th century	More types of kidney cancers are described. Nephrology is established in the second half of the century.
Prior to 1980s	Very limited alternatives are available to treat kidney cancer. For patients whose cancer has not spread beyond the kidneys, complete surgical removal of the kidney is often, but not always, effective. For those with more advanced disease, however, the available chemotherapy and radiation treatments have little effect and survival is usually limited to a few months.[1]
1980s onward	New imaging modalities such as ultrasonography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging come into widespread use.
1990s	Immunotherapy is introduced, which enables doctors to extend the lives of some patients whose cancer have spread.[1]
Present time	Currently, most cases of kidney cancer occur in the developed world, with the highest incidence in North America and Europe, and the lowest incidence in Africa and Asia.[2] Treatments today include surgery, ablation, active surveillance, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and chemotherapy.[3]

Full timeline

Year/period	Type of event	Event	Location
1613	Development	German physician Daniel Sennert publishes his text Practicae Medicinae making the first reference suggesting a tumor arising in the kidney.[4]
1810	Development	Case of renal carcinoma is first described.[5]	France
1877	Development	German surgeon Carl Langenbuch performs the first nephrectomy (kidney removal) for neoplastic disease.[6]
1899	Development	German pathologist Max Wilms first describes nephroblastomas (kidney cancer in children), today also known as Wilms' tumors.[7]
1932	Development	J. R. Hand and A. Broders first report a relationship between histological grade and cancer-specific survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma, showing that patients with high grade of RCC are more likely to die and die sooner after diagnosis than those with low grade tumors.[8]
1941	Development	First description of hypercalcemia in renal cell carcinoma, separating into two categories: metastatic and nonmetastatic.[9]
1956	Development	French physician Pierre Masson first describes tubulocystic renal cell carcinoma of the kidney.[10]
1957	Treatment	Thalidomide is launched to the market as a immunomodulatory drug. Today it is used for treating some cancers, including kidney cancer.[11]	Germany
1960	Development	Nephrology, the discipline that studies the kidney and its functions, is established.[12]
1967	Discovery	Juxtaglomerular cell tumor, a rare kidney tumor of the juxtaglomerular cells, is first described.[13]
1978	Development	Researchers show that nephrectomy alone has a minimal effect on survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.[14]
1978	Discovery	Clear-cell sarcoma of the kidney is first described.[15]
1985	Development	Researchers discover that immunotherapy with interleukin 2 leads to long term tumor shrinkage in some patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma.[1]
1990	Treatment	American physician Ralph Clayman performs the first laparoscopic radical nephrectomy (LRN) for a kidney tumor.[16]
1990	Organization	The Kidney Cancer Association is founded. It provides patient information on the disease, its treatment, and clinical trials among other services.[17]	Evanston, Illinois, US
1992	Treatment	DFA approves interleukin 2, which soon becomes standard therapy for advanced renal cell carcinoma.[1]	United States
1995	Discovery	Renal medullary carcinoma (a rare type of cancer that affects the kidney) is first described.[18]
1995–1997	Treatment	Cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation are introduced as alternatives to surgery into small renal tumors.[1]
2000	Discovery	Researchers discover that combination of kidney removal and immunotherapy increases survival time by 50 percent in patients with advanced renal cancer.[1]
2000	Organization	Kidney Cancer UK is founded as a charity to support "kidney cancer patients, their carers, medical professionals and scientific researchers."[19]	United Kingdom
2001	Development	The UCLA Integrated Staging System (UISS) prognostic model for renal cell carcinoma is developed.[20]	Los Angeles, California, US
2004	Treatment	First robot-assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (ralpn) is introduced.[6]
2004	Development	WHO introduces new classification of renal cell carcinoma, based on pathology and genetic abnormalities. Malignant tumors: clear cell renal cell carcinoma, multilocular clear cell renal cell carcinoma, papillary renal cell carcinoma, chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, carcinoma of the collecting ducts of Bellini, renal medulary carcinoma, xp11 translocation carcinomas, carcinoma associated with neuroblastoma, mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma, and renal cell carcinoma unclassified.[4]
2005	Treatment	FDA approves Nexavar (sorafenib) for treating advanced kidney cancer.[21]	United States
2006	Treatment	FDA approves Sutent (sunitinib malate) for kidney cancer patients because of its ability to reduce the size of tumors.[21]	United States
2007	Treatment	Intravenous drug temsirolimus (TEMSR) is approved for treating advanced renal cell carcinoma.[22]
2008	Treatment	Oncophage is approved for use as a vaccine therapy against kidney cancer.[23]	Russia
2009	Treatment	FDA approves Votrient (pazopanib) as an oral medication that interferes with angiogenesis, the growth of new blood vessels needed for solid tumors to grow. It is a kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma.[21][24]	United States
2009	Treatment	Bevacizumab is approved for treating metastatic renal cell carcinoma after multiple studies confirm benefit when combining with interferon.[1]
2009	Treatment	FDA approves everolimus to treat metastatic kidney cancer that has progressed after treatment with either sorafenib or sunitinib.[25]	United States
2012	Report	With 338,000 new cases diagnosed, kidney cancer becomes the twelfth most common cancer in the world (joint position with pancreatic cancer).[2]
2012	Treatment	FDA approved Inlyta (axitinib) as a prescription medicine used to treat advanced renal cell carcinoma when one prior drug treatment for this disease has not worked.[21]	United States

See also

• Timeline of lung cancer
• Timeline of brain cancer
• Timeline of colorectal cancer
• Timeline of pancreatic cancer
• Timeline of liver cancer
• Timeline of bladder cancer

References

1. "Cancer progress". Retrieved 7 September 2016.
2. "Kidney cancer statistics". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
3. "How is kidney cancer treated?". Retrieved 10 September 2016.
4. "Immunotherapy in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma" (PDF).
5. "Landmarks in the diagnosis and treatment of renal cell carcinoma". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
6. "The contemporary role of surgery in kidney cancer". PMC 2687804.
7. "Wilms' tumours". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
8. Nuñez, Kelvin R. Focus on Kidney Cancer Research. p. 101.
9. "Paraneoplastic Syndromes in Urologic Malignancy: The Many Faces of Renal Cell Carcinoma". PMC 1475999.
10. "Tubulocystic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Rare Renal Tumor". Journal of Kidney Cancer and VHL. doi:10.15586/jkcvhl.2014.13.
11. "History of Thalidomide". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
12. Bickerstaff, Linda. Kidney Cancer: Current and Emerging Trends in Detection and Treatment.
13. Naoto Kuroda; et al. (2011). "Review of juxtaglomerular cell tumor with focus on pathobiological aspect". Diagnostic Pathology. 6: 80. doi:10.1186/1746-1596-6-80. PMC 3173291. PMID 21871063.
14. "Role of surgery in advanced/metastatic renal cell carcinoma". doi:10.4103/0970-1591.65381. PMC 2938537.
15. "Clear Cell Sarcoma of Kidney in a Neonate". PMC 4420453.
16. "Localized renal cell carcinoma management: an update". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
17. "Kidney Cancer Resources". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
18. Davis, Charles J.; Mostofi, F. K.; Sesterhenn, Isabell A. (1995). "Renal Medullary Carcinoma the Seventh Sickle Cell Nephropathy". The American Journal of Surgical Pathology. 19 (1): 1–11. doi:10.1097/00000478-199501000-00001. PMID 7528470.
19. "Kidney Cancer UK". Retrieved 9 September 2016.
20. "Kidney Cancer (Adult) - Renal Cell Carcinoma + - Text Size Download Printable Version [PDF]» Early Detection, Diagnosis, and Staging TOPICS Document Topics GO » SEE A LIST » Previous Topic How is kidney cancer diagnosed? Next Topic Survival rates for kidney cancer by stage How is kidney cancer staged?". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
21. "Therapies for Advanced Kidney Cancer". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
22. "Temsirolimus in daily use: results of a prospective multicentre noninterventional study of patients with metastatic kidney cancer.". doi:10.1016/j.eururo.2013.08.055. PMID 24012472.
23. "Can we develop a vaccine for cancer?". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
24. "Pazopanib shows better quality-of-life in advanced kidney cancer". Retrieved 6 September 2016.
25. "Adjuvant Everolimus for Resected Kidney Cancer". Retrieved 6 September 2016.