Molecular diagnosis and therapy of kidney cancer.

ABSTRACT: Kidney cancer is not a single disease; it is made up of a number of cancers that occur in the kidney, each having a different histology, following a different clinical course, responding differently to therapy, and caused by a different gene. Study of the genes underlying kidney cancer has revealed that it is fundamentally a metabolic disorder. Understanding the genetic basis of cancer of the kidney has significant implications for diagnosis and management of this disease. VHL is the gene for clear cell kidney cancer. The VHL protein forms a complex that targets the hypoxia-inducible factors for ubiquitin-mediated degradation. Knowledge of this pathway provided the foundation for the development of novel therapeutic approaches now approved for treatment of this disease. MET is the gene for

SUBMITTER: Linehan WM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2921612 | biostudies-literature | 2010

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature