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» Kidney Cancer News » Discovery of kidney cancer driver could lead to new treatment strategy
Discovery of kidney cancer driver could lead to new treatment strategy
In a study published in the journal Science, researchers led by UNC Lineberger’s Qing Zhang, PhD, suggest that ZHX2 is a potential new therapeutic target for clear cell renal cell carcinoma, which is the most common type of kidney cancer.
University of North Carolina Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center scientists have uncovered a potential therapeutic target for kidney cancers that have a common genetic change. Scientists have known this genetic change can lead to an overabundance of blood vessels, which help feed nutrients to the tumors. Their latest finding shows a potential new cancer-driving pathway.
More than 90 percent of the most common type of kidney cancer have a genetic change that leads to the loss of an important tumor suppressor gene called VHL. In a study published in the journal Science, researchers identified a new downstream effect of this genetic change that is helping to drive kidney cancer: They found that a protein called ZHX2 over-accumulates in these cells and helps to turn on other signals involved in cancerous growth. Their findings suggest that ZHX2 is a potential new therapeutic target for clear cell renal cell carcinoma, which is the most common type of kidney cancer.
“If you lose VHL, you will accumulate lots of this ZHX2 protein, which will turn on signals that promote kidney cancer,” said UNC Lineberger’s Qing Zhang, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Pharmacology. “This protein could be a potential therapeutic target used to treat kidney cancer on its own or in combination. The next step is to try to figure out how we can target it therapeutically.”
Renal cell clear cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer, accounting for about 70 percent of all cases, researchers report. Approximately 90 percent of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma have genetic mutations or alterations that cause them to lose the function of VHL. When the function of VHL is gone, cells can accumulate signals that trigger blood vessels to grow.
“VHL is the most important tumor suppressor in clear cell renal cell carcinoma,” Zhang said. “There are extensive reports showing that from initiation to tumor progression to metastasis — during the whole process of kidney cancer development – VHL plays a central role. It is important to understand how the VHL loss contributes to kidney cancer, and how we can therapeutically target the downstream effects of this loss in kidney cancer.”
Read the full article on UNC Lineberger’s website here
More than 90 percent of the most common type of kidney cancer have a genetic change that leads to the loss of an important tumor suppressor gene called VHL. In a study published in the journal Science, researchers identified a new downstream effect of this genetic change that is helping to drive kidney cancer: They found that a protein called ZHX2 over-accumulates in these cells and helps to turn on other signals involved in cancerous growth. Their findings suggest that ZHX2 is a potential new therapeutic target for clear cell renal cell carcinoma, which is the most common type of kidney cancer.
“If you lose VHL, you will accumulate lots of this ZHX2 protein, which will turn on signals that promote kidney cancer,” said UNC Lineberger’s Qing Zhang, PhD, an assistant professor in the UNC School of Medicine Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Pharmacology. “This protein could be a potential therapeutic target used to treat kidney cancer on its own or in combination. The next step is to try to figure out how we can target it therapeutically.”
The image shows clear cell renal cell carcinoma with ZHX2 highlighted in brown. (Credit: Jing Zhang, PhD)
Renal cell clear cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer, accounting for about 70 percent of all cases, researchers report. Approximately 90 percent of patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma have genetic mutations or alterations that cause them to lose the function of VHL. When the function of VHL is gone, cells can accumulate signals that trigger blood vessels to grow.
“VHL is the most important tumor suppressor in clear cell renal cell carcinoma,” Zhang said. “There are extensive reports showing that from initiation to tumor progression to metastasis — during the whole process of kidney cancer development – VHL plays a central role. It is important to understand how the VHL loss contributes to kidney cancer, and how we can therapeutically target the downstream effects of this loss in kidney cancer.”
Read the full article on UNC Lineberger’s website here
Malcolm Packer
Malcolm is Chief Executive Officer at Kidney Cancer UK and Kidney Cancer Scotland and has worked with the charity in various capacities for over 15 years.
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