Kidney / Renal Cancer

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health Rogel Cancer Center have discovered a biomarker that could help identify which renal cancer patients have a higher risk of recurrence.

The findings show that the patients who had renal tumors with TFEB amplification were significantly older than patients with renal tumors housing TFE3 or TFEB translocation. Further, renal tumors with TFEB amplification, known to be associated with poor prognosis, were seen to be at least three times as common as those with TFEB translocation.

By sequencing the RNA of individual cells within multiple benign and cancerous kidney tumors, researchers have identified the cells from which different subtypes originate, the pathways involved and how the tumor microenvironment impacts cancer development and response to treatment.

High expression levels of the gene TRIM63 can serve as an accurate and sensitive biomarker of a subtype of kidney cancer known as microphthalmia-associated transcription factor family aberration-associated renal cell carcinomas — or MiTF renal cell carcinoma.

Using next-generation RNA sequencing techniques, a team of scientists from the University of Michigan Rogel Cancer Center has uncovered the gene signature of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) and have extensively tested the expression of three new biomarkers.