Unusual characteristics of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma

Eric Jonasch, MD, from the The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, discusses chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) 2017 in Madrid, Spain. ChRCC is a relatively rare kidney cancer, characterised by a very low number of chromosomes. HNF-1beta, master regulator of transcription, was found to be decreased in ChRCC in comparison to other kidney cancers. Multiple knockout cell lines were produced, recreating the chromosomal abnormality, enabling a greater understanding of how this occurs. This will hopefully enable more targeted treatments to be developed in the future.