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Publication

Molecular classification of clear-cell renal cell carcinoma and prediction of response to systemic therapies

Book - Dissertation

Over the last 10 years, several new therapies became available for the treatment of metastatic
clear-cell kidney tumors: blood vessel inhibitors, mTOR-inhibitors and new generation immunotherapy. Although these therapies have globally improved therapeutic outcome, individual patient responses are highly variable. There is an urgent need to know in advance which therapy will be the best for each patient in order to improve therapeutic efficacy, prevent unnecessary side effects and optimize the use of public resources. Recently, based on fresh frozen tumor samples, our research group has discovered that clear-cell kidney tumors can be classified into four molecular subgroups. Two subgroups are highly sensitive to the blood vessel inhibitor sunitinib, two other subgroups are less or not sensitive. We now aim to strengthen this model in order to understand better clear-cell kidney tumors and to improve patient outcome. (A) We will validate our classification on paraphin embedded samples, which are more largely available than fresh frozen samples. (B) We will deepen the molecular characterization of the subtypes through the analysis of micro-RNAs and mutations, and study the stability of this classification throughout disease evolution. (C) We will study the impact of the classification on patients treated with other blood vessel inhibitors such as pazopanib and axitinib, with mTOR-inhibitors, with new generation immunotherapy and with surgical resection of metastases.
Publication year:2020
Accessibility:Open