Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. It accounts for approximately 85% of neoplasms arising from the kidney The tissue of origin for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the proximal renal tubular epithelium. Renal cancer occurs in a sporadic (nonhereditary) and a hereditary form, and both forms are associated with structural alterations of the short arm of chromosome 3 (3p). Genetic studies of the families at high risk for developing renal cancer led to the cloning of genes whose alteration results in tumor formation. These genes are either tumor suppressors (VHL, TSC) or oncogenes (MET).