Patients with metastatic kidney cancer usually do not need radiotherapy.
Why do cancers of other organs almost always require chemotherapy when they reach an advanced stage, but not kidney cancer?
Because kidney cancer is not sensitive to chemotherapy and is inherently resistant to chemotherapy drugs. Almost all chemotherapy drugs have been used to treat kidney cancer, but none have been particularly effective. The only ones with response rates above 10% are 5-fluorouracil, gemcitabine and doxorubicin. Studies using a combination of these drugs and using one drug in combination with other new drugs are ongoing, and it is hoped that effective new chemotherapy drugs and regimens will be discovered.
Therefore, taking into account the severe side effects and relatively low efficiency of chemotherapy, chemotherapy is not currently the primary treatment for metastatic kidney cancer.