Kidney cancer is the sixth most common cancer in adults in the United States. Clear-cell kidney cancer, or clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (CRCC)—the cells appear pale and clear under a microscope—accounts for seven out of 10 people with kidney cancer, and is the most aggressive form of the disease. Because kidney cancer does not cause symptoms until the tumor has already grown, and is very difficult to detect in a routine physical examination, approximately 25 to 30 percent of patients aren’t diagnosed until the disease is metastatic. Unfortunately, metastatic clear-cell kidney cancer is currently incurable. Continue reading “The switch that promotes kidney cancer progression and metastasis”