Investigating mechanisms of resistance to oxidative stress in renal cancer

There is a growing need to personalise anti-cancer treatments because cancers, like individuals, are somewhat unique. Diagnostic assays detecting specific features (biomarkers) provide a framework to classify tumours according to their molecular content. In turn, the specific cancer profile guides the clinician’s choice for therapy. This personalized medicine approach will markedly increase the effectiveness of cancer treatments. The number of renal cancer cases is growing and major resistance mechanisms dramatically limit current treatment success: 30% of the patients are intrinsically resistant to therapy and the remaining 70% who respond initially will eventually become resistant in 6–15 months. This project will involve laboratory experiments using cell culture models of cancer and tools to reduce the expression of genes associated with a stress response in cells that might contribute to such resistance.