Links between smoking and kidney cancer: treatment to be adapted

Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have identified new evidence about the effects of smoking on kidney cancer patients.

The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, provides the first steps in developing personalized treatments for patients with this type of cancer. The disease studied is the most common type of kidney cancer, but there are few chemotherapy options for advanced cancers [1].

Mutations that help distinguish smoking-related cancers

Building on previous work that identified mutations in kidney cancer cells, this study reveals metabolic fingerprints that distinguish cancers from those of non-smokers versus smokers.

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the University of California, led by Maria Czyzyk-Krzeska in cancer biology, Jarek Meller in environmental and public health sciences, and Julio Landero Figueroa, Ph.D. in chemistry, analyzed tissues from patients who smoked as well as nonsmokers, uncovering the effects of smoking in this form of kidney cancer.

A specific treatment for this type of cancer

The data therefore show that tumors from long-term smokers present a distinct form of kidney cancer, with different weaknesses and which may require a specific treatment strategy. According to Maria Czyzyk-Krzeska, "this is one of the first studies to establish that this type of analysis is necessary. Personalized medicine, or precision medicine, has the promise of offering a specific and unique therapy based on the molecular landscape of each patient's cancer [2]».

©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] PENCE Katie, Researchers study tobacco use, cancer connection, www.medicalxpress.com (October 20, 2020 - accessed October 22, 2020). [2] Ibid. DNF - For a Zero Tobacco World |