This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Iliopoulos, O. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Iliopoulos, O.

Molecular Biology of Renal Cell Cancer and the Identification of Therapeutic Targets

Othon Iliopoulos

From the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Renal Cancer Program and Genetics Program, Boston, MA

Address reprint requests to Othon Iliopoulos, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit St, GRJ 904, Boston, MA 02114; e-mail: oiliopoulos{at}partners.org

Renal cell cancer (RCC) is a heterogeneous disease consisting of different histologic types. Major advances have been accomplished during the last 15 years in our understanding of the genetic events that initiate RCC. These advances were greatly facilitated by meticulous clinical description and registration of patients with familial predisposition to RCC. The cloning of the susceptibility genes that underline familial predisposition to RCC has offered entry points into the signaling pathways that are also deregulated in sporadic RCC. Biochemical studies of these signaling pathways and target validation experiments have already culminated in the discovery and clinical application of small molecules with promising activity in RCC. In this article, we highlight the molecular genetic features of RCC that are more directly related to identification and validation of promising targets for molecular therapy.

Author's disclosures of potential conflicts of interest are found at the end of this article.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. D. Michaelson, O. Iliopoulos, D. F. McDermott, F. J. McGovern, M. G. Harisinghani, and E. Oliva Case 17-2008 -- A 63-Year-Old Man with Metastatic Renal-Cell Carcinoma N. Engl. J. Med., May 29, 2008; 358(22): 2389 - 2396. [Full Text] [PDF]

				K. R. Blish, W. Wang, M. C. Willingham, W. Du, C. E. Birse, S. R. Krishnan, J. C. Brown, G. A. Hawkins, A. J. Garvin, R. B. D'Agostino Jr., et al. A Human Bone Morphogenetic Protein Antagonist Is Down-Regulated in Renal Cancer Mol. Biol. Cell, February 1, 2008; 19(2): 457 - 464. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Morikawa, A. Sugiyama, H. Kume, S. Ota, T. Kashima, K. Tomita, T. Kitamura, T. Kodama, M. Fukayama, and H. Aburatani Identification of Toll-Like Receptor 3 as a Potential Therapeutic Target in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma Clin. Cancer Res., October 1, 2007; 13(19): 5703 - 5709. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. F. Bajorin, R. J. Motzer, and G. J. Bosl Advances in Urologic Oncology: Results Progress From Successful Interdisciplinary Research J. Clin. Oncol., December 10, 2006; 24(35): 5479 - 5481. [Full Text] [PDF]