Centre for Cancer Research

Interferon action / renal cell carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common form of kidney cancer in adults. Our studies concentrate on interferon, which is essential for immune defence against disease. Interferons have been used clinically against a variety of diseases, including solid tumours like RCC. However, only some RCC tumours are sensitive to interferon treatment. The reasons for this remain unknown. By comparing sensitive and resistant renal cell carcinoma cell lines, scientists have found a transcriptional repressor called PLZF (promyleocytic zinc finger protein) which has not been implicated in the interferon response before. Cancer Research scientists are investigating how this gene regulates the interferon response in RCC.