Gene expression profiling of renal cell carcinoma and clinical implications

Abstract

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common malignancy arising in the adult kidney, representing 2% of all malignancies and 2% of cancer-related deaths. It is the 10th most common cancer in the U.S., where it causes more than 12,000 deaths per year. Its incidence has been increasing, a phenomenon that cannot be accounted for by the wider use of imaging procedures (1). RCC is more common in men than women, especially in men over 55 yr of age. Risk factors include genetic predisposition (2), hypertension, obesity (3),and occupational exposures (4). RCC may be as small as 1 cm in diameter when discovered (usually incidentally), or as bulky as several kilograms. It most often manifests with pain, as a palpable mass, as hematuria, or as another paraneoplastic syndrome.