Are cytokine responses in renal cell cancer the product of placebo effect of treatment or true biotherapy? What trials are needed now?

Recent progress in cytokine therapy for renal cell cancer: a case for the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer adjuvant cytokine trial in patients with poor‐risk renal cell cancer after maximum debulking surgery

“…Several uncontrolled studies suggested that IFNα and IL‐2, singly or in combination, have therapeutic value. Although many of the initial reports suggested response rates as high as 30–40%, recent publications of cumulative data show a response rate of 15–20% [6,12] with 2–5% complete responses. Although these complete responses were durable for ≥5 years in most patients, there remains a degree of scepticism, as several randomized trials have reported no overall definite benefit of immunotherapy in metastatic RCC [13–17].…”