At the present time, there are no drugs that have been proven to work in patients with papillary kidney cancer that has spread (metastasized) beyond the kidneys. Researchers are interested in determining whether the combination of the drugs bevacizumab and erlotinib can be used to treat metastatic papillary kidney cancer.

Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Carcinoma (HLRCC) is an inherited type of papillary kidney cancer (it runs in families). Papillary kidney cancer can also occur sporadically, or without a family connection. More research is needed to determine whether treatments for papillary kidney cancer, such as bevacizumab and erlotinib, work in inherited or sporadic types of kidney cancer, and if so, whether there are any differences.