Current research into kidney cancer

Based at the Francis Crick Institute, Dr Samra Turajlic is studying how kidney cancers evolve and spread, and why treatments stop working, as part of the TRACERx study. Knowing how kidney cancer changes over time could help doctors tailor treatments to each person’s cancer, and help researchers design new treatments to stop cancer in its tracks.

In Cambridge, Professor Ferdia Gallagher is studying if a new method of imaging can be used to monitor kidney cancers. If successful, these MRI scans have the potential to help doctors tell whether a person is responding to treatment very rapidly, and potentially could reduce the need for invasive biopsies to understand the tumour in more detail.

Small renal masses (SRMs) form early in the development of kidney cancer. Over time, some SRMs progress to advanced disease and surgical removal at an early stage provides a cure. However, surgery to remove them comes with risks, particularly when some may not require treatment. Tom Mitchell in Cambridge is mapping the ‘molecular archaeology’ of these tumours to highlight those tumours that require urgent treatment and also spare some people from unnecessary surgery.