Background: Renal cell carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in Germany with an increasing incidence. Drug therapy is indicated in relapsed or metastatic disease., Materials and Methods: The article is based on the content of the recent guidelines and a selective literature search., Results: Combination therapies based on a checkpoint inhibitor are the current standard in first-line treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma. The median overall survival could thus be extended to > 50 months. The International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) score is used for risk classification. When selecting a suitable combination therapy, it is important to consider the advantages and disadvantages for each individual patient. There is currently no standard for follow-up therapies. So far, combination therapies have not shown any significant advantage in second-line treatment. It is recommended to switch to a substance that has not yet been used., Conclusions: Currently, one purely immuno-oncology combination and four combinations of one immune checkpoint inhibitor and one tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) are approved for first-line therapy in Germany. The added value of further intensification of therapy, in particular through triple combinations or further combination therapy in the second line, has not yet been proven., Competing Interests: Einhaltung ethischer Richtlinien. Interessenkonflikt: T. Hilser: Honorar: IPSEN. C. Darr: Honorar: Janssen-Cilag, Ipsen; Reisekosten: Janssen-Cilag, Ipsen, Bayer. K. Schlack: Beratungstätigkeit: AAA, Amgen, Apogepha, Astellas, AstraZeneca, Bayer, BMS (personal and institutional), Eisai, EUSA-Pharma, Fosanis, Ipsen, Janssen Cilag, Merck Healthcare, MSD, Novartis (personal and institutional), Pfizer (personal and institutional), Roche; Reisekosten: Sanofi-Aventis, Astra Zeneca, Astellas, Bayer, Janssen Cilag, Ipsen, Merck Healthcare. V. Grünwald: Aktienbesitz: AstraZeneca, Bicycle Therapeutics, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Genmab, MSD; Honorar: Advanced Accelerator Applications/Novartis, Amgen, Apogepha, Astellas Pharma, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eisai, Ipsen, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Serono, MSD Oncology, Ono Pharmaceutical, Pfizer; Beratungstätigkeit: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Cureteq, Debiopharm Group, Eisai, Gilead Sciences, Ipsen, Janssen-Cilag, MSD Oncology, Novartis, Oncorena, PCI Biotech, Pfizer, Synthekine; Forschungsfinanzierung: Amgen (Inst), Bicycle Therapeutics (Inst), Bristol-Myers Squibb (Inst), Gilead Sciences (Inst), Ipsen (Inst), Seagen (Inst); Reisekosten: AstraZeneca, Ipsen, Janssen, Merck Serono, Pfizer. U.-U. Yesilyurt und N. Klümper geben an, dass kein Interessenkonflikt besteht. Für diesen Beitrag wurden von den Autor/-innen keine Studien an Menschen oder Tieren durchgeführt. Für die aufgeführten Studien gelten die jeweils dort angegebenen ethischen Richtlinien., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Medizin Verlag GmbH, ein Teil von Springer Nature.)