Kidney Cancer Scotland funds research into biomarkers for treatment of kidney cancer

Kidney Cancer Scotland is proud to announce it is funding an important kidney cancer research programme led by Dr Grant Stewart, with Edinburgh Urological Research Group colleagues at the University of Edinburgh, into kidney cancer biomarkers. The ultimate goal of Dr Stewart’s research is to identify biomarkers to enable improved and better-targeted treatment of the disease.

Biomarkers are proteins, or genes, produced by kidney cancer that can better inform about the aggressiveness of the disease and how patients might best be treated with the many drugs available for more advanced forms of kidney cancer. If biomarkers can be established it may lead to a wider range of medications being made available as doctors become better able to target patients with specific drugs that will respond to their circumstance, avoiding the current ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Additionally, doctors may also be able to give cancer patients who have cancer localised to the kidney a clearer estimate of the risk of the disease reoccurring in the future. They would receive additional benefit as any follow-up treatment would also be more finely tuned to their personal medical circumstance and requirement.
Such biomarkers studies are challenging to perform. Large numbers of kidney cancer samples have been donated by patients to Dr Stewart and Professor David Harrison (Professor of Pathology, St. Andrew’s University), who run the SCOTRRCC study of biomarkers in kidney cancer. Using these samples together with exciting new research techniques, Dr Stewart is performing experiments to look at mechanisms of kidney cancer invasion and following on from this, potential new cancer drug targets. This work is funded by Kidney Cancer Scotland.
Dr Stewart said: “I am delighted that Kidney Cancer Scotland are supporting our research into the silent killer that is kidney cancer. Through the generous donation of tissue from many patients across Scotland we are in a great position to use the funds donated to evaluate new biomarkers in the disease which in the future should improve the management of patients though better use of existing treatments’.
Karen McNee, Communities Development Manager at Kidney Cancer Scotland said; “We are delighted to be able to support Dr Stewart and the team at the University of Edinburgh by funding this research. Kidney cancer claims over 10,000 victims every year across the UK with nearly 50% of those people losing the fight. Our mission is to support patients, carers, family and those touched by kidney cancer. With late diagnosis being so prevalent, a way to treat patients effectively to each individual’s needs is vital and Dr’s Stewarts work will help to control the disease and brings us one-step closer to our aim which is to banish kidney cancer forever.”