IFNA1 and renal cell carcinoma: Sunitinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEFG receptor (VEGFR), c-kit and platelet-derived growth factor receptor, was superior to interferon-α (IFN-α) in a randomised phase III trial as first line treatment of RCC (Motzer et al, 2007), and sorafenib, another tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets Ras-activated factor (RAF) and VEFGR, also showed clinical benefit in a phase III trial in which it was compared with placebo as second-line treatment of this disease (Escudier et al, 2007a).