Progress in Development of Drug Against Kidney Cancer

Cancer researchers in New Zealand and the United States have isolated a small molecule with properties that make it a good potential therapeutic agent for treating kidney cancer.

Investigators at The University of Auckland (NZ) and the Stanford University School of Medicine (Palo Alto, CA, USA) are working with variations of the compound STF-62247, which was found at Stanford by screening kidney cancer cells that lacked the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene. This gene is not active in about 75% of kidney cancer cells.

The investigators reported in the July 8, 2008, issue of the journal Cancer Cell that STF-62247 induced cytotoxicity and reduced tumor growth of VHL-deficient kidney cancers cells compared to genetically matched cells with wild-type VHL. STF-62247-stimulated toxicity occurred through autophagy in a manner that was independent of the action of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF).

"Kidney cancer is the tenth most prevalent cancer in the New Zealand population, and affects about twice as many men as women,” said contributing author Dr. Bill Denny, professor of chemistry at the University of Auckland. "By taking the Stanford molecule and adapting it, we have created related compounds that retain the desired cytotoxic properties whilst improving other important factors like water-solubility, necessary for making an effective human drug. The hope is that by developing this class of drug further we will eventually have a better treatment that will improve the long term health of kidney cancer patients.”


Related Links:
Stanford University School of Medicine
The University of Auckland