OBJECTIVES:   The objective of this study was to analyze real life treatment patterns and progression free survival (PFS) in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) initially treated by a targeted therapy in France. METHODS:   Analyses were performed using IMS RWD Oncology cross-sectional survey data, a retrospective, longitudinal cancer treatment database collecting anonymized patient-level oncology data in 5 European countries. We extracted French patients with mRCC who had received a first-line targeted therapy between 2005 and 2015 and for whom follow-up data were available. Descriptive analyses were performed on treatment patterns and patient’s characteristics. Kaplan-Meier curves were used to assess PFS of included patients. RESULTS:  CONCLUSIONS:   Patient characteristics were consistent with the literature and unpublished real life data from the French National Health Insurance database. Treatment patterns in our cohort followed current guidelines. PFS was consistent with clinical trial results and published real life PFS. However, disease progression is not formally defined in the database and is at the discretion of the treating physician, nevertheless the study reflects real life practice.