Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Subtypes Identified with Genetic Test

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a study published in the journal European Urology, researchers at the Singapore General Hospital and National Cancer Centre Singapore A*STAR Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology have developed a genetic test that can identify subtypes of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer, but the prognosis of those patients can be difficult to predict as there are different subtypes of the disease.

In order to identify genes that could be used as genetic markers for the test, researchers analyzed the genetic material from 279 patients who had ccRCC in the last 15 years.

The team was able to identify eight genes that were expressed in differing levels between subtypes of ccRCC. Then, they developed an assay based on these eight genes to test patients with ccRCC. When they tested it on patients with ccRCC, they found that it was a reliable predictor of a good or poor prognosis.

Furthermore, the test could also reliably predict whether patients will benefit from tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) therapy. The findings suggest that this genetic test could be used for both prognosis and prediction for patients with ccRCC, but further clinical studies are warranted in order to determine its value.