About this Research Topic
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 3% to 4% of all adult malignancies. Among all the histologic variants, clear cell RCC (ccRCC) is the most common, representing from 70% to 90% of all renal carcinomas. The remaining cases are categorized as non-clear cell carcinomas (ncRCC). This heterogeneous group include different subtypes: papillary (10–15% of all RCCs), chromophobe (5% to 7%), collecting duct (1% to 2%), renal medullary (<1%), and translocation RCC tumors (<1%). All these histologies differ for genetic and biochemical characteristics from each other and from ccRCC. Therefore, studying the cellular molecular characteristics of ncRCC is important to provide guidance for clinical treatment and insight into treatment of difficult cases.
Due to its rarity and poor molecular characterization, ncRCC are often managed with untailored treatments. These tumors are in fact under-represented in prospective randomized trials. Thus, treatment choices are based on extrapolating results from ccRCC trials, retrospective data, or case reports. Over the last two decades, various options have been considered as the mainstay for the treatment of metastatic RCC (mRCC), including angiogenesis inhibitors, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitors, other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), as well as mesenchymal–epithelial transition factor gene (MET)-inhibitors and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. More recently, the therapeutic armamentarium has been enriched with immunotherapy, alone or in combination with targeted agents that were shown to significantly improve outcomes of mRCC patients compared to TKI single-agent. More knowledge about the biology of non-clear histologies is certainly needed, but it is now widely proven that ncRCC is a morphologically and clinically distinct entity from its clear cell counterpart.
This Research topic focuses on advancements of molecular genetics and the future potential treatment options. For this Research Topic, we welcome submissions of Original Research and Reviews highlighting the advancements of molecular genetics and therapeutics in Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Due to its rarity and poor molecular characterization, ncRCC are often managed with untailored treatments. These tumors are in fact under-represented in prospective randomized trials. Thus, treatment choices are based on extrapolating results from ccRCC trials, retrospective data, or case reports. Over the last two decades, various options have been considered as the mainstay for the treatment of metastatic RCC (mRCC), including angiogenesis inhibitors, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor inhibitors, other tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), as well as mesenchymal–epithelial transition factor gene (MET)-inhibitors and mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) inhibitors. More recently, the therapeutic armamentarium has been enriched with immunotherapy, alone or in combination with targeted agents that were shown to significantly improve outcomes of mRCC patients compared to TKI single-agent. More knowledge about the biology of non-clear histologies is certainly needed, but it is now widely proven that ncRCC is a morphologically and clinically distinct entity from its clear cell counterpart.
This Research topic focuses on advancements of molecular genetics and the future potential treatment options. For this Research Topic, we welcome submissions of Original Research and Reviews highlighting the advancements of molecular genetics and therapeutics in Non-Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Keywords: non-clear cell renal cell carcinoma, papillary renal cell carcinoma, collecting duct renal cell carcinoma, medullary renal cell carcinoma, targeted therapy
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