Researchers Discover New Molecule for Treatment of Kidney Cancer

Researchers reported recently that they found a new molecule, which kills kidney cancer cells. Ideally, the investigators said, a drug created from this molecule would be able to fight the disease without forcing surgeons to remove the diseased organ, which is a standard treatment method in use today.

Amato Giaccia, Ph.D., professor and director of radiation oncology and radiation biology at Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford, CA, USA), focused on the von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor gene, or VHL gene, which typically slows tumor growth in humans but does not work in 75% of kidney tumor cells. Dr. Giaccia's team searched for a small molecule that would destroy cancer cells when this VHL gene is broken. They found their arsenal in a molecule called STF-62247.

"You now have a potential means of going after a disease that's been difficult to treat,” said Dr. Giacci, who believes that clinical trials could start in a couple of years. His findings will be published in the journal Cancer Cell on July 8, 2008.


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Stanford University School of Medicine