Orthopedic interventions and outcomes in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma: a systematic review

Background: Despite advanced in systemic therapy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC), bone metastasis remains an adverse prognostic factor and major cause of mortality and morbidity. Orthopedic interventions may provide symptom relief, functional recovery, and survival benefit, yet the evidence is fragmented across heterogeneous studies. Objectives: To systematically review the outcomes of orthopedic surgical interventions in patients with symptomatic bone metastases from RCC. Design: Systematic literature review conducted in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Data sources and methods: A comprehensive search of Embase, MEDLINE, and the Cochrane Library was conducted for studies published between January 1, 2014, and January 30, 2024. Eligible studies included randomized controlled trials, prospective observational studies, and retrospective studies reporting on orthopedic interventions for RCC bone metastases. Primary outcomes included overall survival, reoperation rates, complication rates, and quality of life. Results: Of 2208 studies screened, 15 met the inclusion criteria. All were retrospective series or case series, limiting the strength of the evidence. Six studies focused on appendicular skeleton metastases, five on axial skeleton involvement, and four on both regions. Results were primarily reported narratively, with limited statistical analyses. Orthopedic surgical interventions—particularly when combined with targeted systemic therapy—were associated with longer overall survival. Among surgical approaches, complete metastasectomy was most consistently associated with improved survival compared with intralesional curettage and stabilization-only procedures. Conclusion: Although available data suggest that orthopedic surgery, particularly complete metastasectomy, may improve overall survival and quality of life in RCC patients with bone metastases, the evidence is limited to retrospective and narrative reports. Some studies also suggest that outcomes may be further enhanced when surgery is integrated with systemic therapy. Given the poor prognosis associated with bone involvement in RCC, prospective randomized studies are urgently needed to define optimal patient selection, standardize management strategies, and integrate surgery with systemic therapy in a multidisciplinary framework.