Leppert John T, Pantuck Allan J
Department of Urology, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA, 66-118 Center for Health Sciences, Box 951738, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1738, USA.
Expert Rev Anticancer Ther. 2006 Feb;6(2):293-9. doi: 10.1586/14737140.6.2.293.
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) describes a family of epithelial tumors arising from within the kidney. Each subtype of RCC presents a unique clinical picture with varied tumor biology, patient prognosis and response to treatment. Gene expression profiling offers the ability to analyze thousands of candidate genes in high-throughput arrays and has led to a greater knowledge of the molecular genetics of RCC. This powerful technology can identify RCC subtypes, recapitulating and refining the current histological classifications. Gene expression data also promise to advance current staging systems and improve prognostic information for patients and clinicians. Understanding the genetic signature of RCC tumors will allow for sophisticated application of systemic and targeted therapies, improving patient response and minimizing unnecessary exposure of patients to treatment toxicities. This article reviews the significance of gene expression analysis in the understanding of tumor biology and RCC treatment.
肾细胞癌（RCC）是指起源于肾脏内部的一组上皮性肿瘤。肾细胞癌的每种亚型都呈现出独特的临床症状，具有不同的肿瘤生物学特性、患者预后及对治疗的反应。基因表达谱分析能够在高通量阵列中分析数千个候选基因，从而使人们对肾细胞癌的分子遗传学有了更深入的了解。这项强大的技术可以识别肾细胞癌亚型，概括并完善当前的组织学分类。基因表达数据还有望改进当前的分期系统，为患者和临床医生提供更好的预后信息。了解肾细胞癌肿瘤的基因特征将有助于系统治疗和靶向治疗的精准应用，提高患者的反应，并尽量减少患者不必要的治疗毒性暴露。本文综述了基因表达分析在理解肿瘤生物学和肾细胞癌治疗方面的意义。
