ESOU18: Alternative Approaches for Characterization of Renal Tumors

Amsterdam, The Netherlands (UroToday.com) Circulating Tumor cell free DNA (cfDNA) was first reported in 1948. It is a non-invasive method for cancer biomarker detection, and presents a significant innovation in the field of personalized medicine. Liquid biopsy (LB) presents the genetic profile of all tumor subclones in one patient, in contrast to normal tissue biopsy, where only one specific tumor area can be analyzed. LB provides a personal snapshot of the disease and an opportunity to assess whether the treatment was successful. LB can be acquired from blood (serum/plasma), urine, saliva, cerebrospinal fluid, amniotic fluid, and basically from all non-solid body tissues. LB enables us to extract cfDNA, exosomes, miRNA, Mrna, Rrna, protein, peptides, and lymphocytes.

Dr. Von Brandenstein presented a study done at her institution, where the authors collected miRNA from urine samples from patients with oncocytoma and renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The authors found that Mxi-2 expression is increased in the urine samples of patients with RCC, while Vim3 expression is increased in patients with oncocytoma. The authors hope that in the near future, this study will lead to creation of a quick and reliable detection method for the diagnosis of most renal tumors, through a simple urine sample.

Dr. Von Brandestein concluded her talk stating that LBs are necessary for the detection of tumors and monitoring of therapy. It provides the option of personalized medicine according to the results and further research is still required.

Speaker: Melanie Von Brandenstein, PhD Institute of Urology, University of Cologne Cologne, Germany

Written By: Hanan Goldberg, MD, Urologic Oncology Fellow (SUO), University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre @GoldbergHanan at The 15th Meeting of the EAU Section of Oncological Urology ESOU18 - January 26-28, 2018 - Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Login