Kidney cancer overview

Overview
Renal cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer arising from the renal tubule. It is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. Initial treatment is surgery. It is notoriously resistant to radiation therapy and chemotherapy, although some cases respond to immunotherapy. The advent of targeted cancer therapies such as sunitinib has vastly improved the outlook for treatment of RCC.

Classification
Recent genetic studies have altered the approaches used in classifying renal cell carcinoma. The following system can be used to classify these tumors:


 * Clear cell carcinoma (VHL and others on chromosome 3)
 * Papillary carcinoma (MET, PRCC)
 * Chromophobe renal carcinoma
 * Collecting duct carcinoma

Other associated genes include TRC8, OGG1, HNF1A, HNF1B, TFE3, RCCP3, and RCC17.