Is Stage 4 Kidney Cancer Terminal

Is stage 4 kidney cancer terminal - Metastasis is a process in which multiple tumors spread from their place of origin to other parts of the body, causing more than nine in 10 cancer-related deaths. However, scientists still know relatively little about the genes and biological processes that can lead to metastasis. Information that could potentially be translated into new ways to prevent cancer from reaching an advanced stage or stage.

Now Sloan Kettering's memorial team has explained the mechanism by which kidney cancer metastasizes into distant organs, including the lungs, bones, and brain. The findings, published in December in the journal Nature Medicine, highlight possible therapeutic strategies to curb the spread of disease. This research also provides scientific evidence that can drive metastasis research in other cancers.

The study was led by a cancer biologist who leads the chair of biology and genetics for cancer at the Sloan Kettering Institute and heads the Center for Metastatic Research. In recent years, his lab has discovered the root causes of metastasis in various cancers, including breast and lung cancers.

In this study, researchers focused on clear renal cell carcinoma, the most common subtype of kidney cancer, where more effective therapy is urgently needed. The metastatic form of this disease is almost always incurable.

In most patients, tumors of renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) in a gene called VHL carry DNA changes. This mutation has been shown to cause the formation of a primary renal tumor, but not always lead to metastasis. Until now, researchers did not know why some cells of renal cell carcinoma can form secondary tumors in distant organs.

In a recent study, the team answered this question by experimenting on mouse models and cell lines, as well as analyzing biological and clinical data from more than 700 patients with ccRCC whose tumors have been analyzed in major cancer genome projects. Were.

They found that two genes, CYTIP and CXCR4, were activated in metastatic tumor cells but were not active in non-metastatic cells. Their experiments show that activating two genes can be important for the spread of kidney cancer.

CXCR4 has been linked to metastasis before and for other types of tumors, including breast cancer. Our study now shows that blocking the function of CXCR4 with a drug called plerixafor can reduce metastatic kidney cancer in mice. Plerixafor is currently being used to stimulate blood stem cells in cancer patients treated with bone marrow transplants. The researchers want to further investigate whether CXCR4 and CYTIP, as well as other genes identified in this study, could offer new goals for developing more effective drugs for kidney cancer.

In addition, researchers looked at the mechanism by which the genes CXCR4 and CYTIP are activated in kidney cancer cells to trigger metastasis. Their study found that genes undergo a series of epigenetic changes, modifications to proteins that pack cell DNA and regulate genes.

Unlike gene mutations, which alter the cell's genetic code, the epigenetic changes leave the DNA sequences untouched. However, these changes can affect cell behavior by activating or deactivating individual genes. Epigenetic modification is commonly observed in many cancers and has recently been linked to a more advanced condition. Little is known, however, about genes and the specific mechanisms by which tumor cells can reconfigure their epigenetic arrangement. This allows a person's disease to develop and build up in new organs.