Research Awards Recipients

Lay Abstract

The most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and it is one of the deadliest urological malignancies. In more than 80% of clear cell RCCs, the Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene is inactivated. We propose the use of human fat (adipose) -derived stem/stromal cells (ASCs), a type of adult stem cells, as a vehicle for delivery of beneficial proteins, specifically tumor suppressor gene products such as VHL, after gene-modifying these cells to allow their production. Our primary goal is to investigate and analyze the anti-tumor effects of VHL-producing ASCs in mouse models of RCC, both locally and at metastatic sites, and particularly determine if novel tumor suppressor gene constructs will lead to significant anti-tumor effects and applicability against different RCC subtypes. Our results will be statistically analyzed and compared, and with control groups. Our proposed study is very promising and aims to advance kidney cancer research and contribute to improved and curative therapies.