Frontiers in clinical and molecular diagnostics and staging of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

The last few years have brought advances in the understanding of the molecular biology of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Both preclinical research and clinical trials brought together results from the latest advancements in RCC diagnostic and staging. Understanding of the complex molecular alterations involved in the development and progression of RCC enables development of immunohistochemical and genetic diagnostic tools and is also opening the doors for experimental targeted therapies. At the same time, improvements of medical and molecular imaging improves the sensitivity and specificity of metastatic disease diagnosis. Moreover, independent validation of molecular profiles across high-throughput platforms, methods, laboratories and cancer populations has recently been successfully performed in RCC. Generation of informative, clinical diagnostic tools is likely to contribute to development of novel personalized diagnostic and treatment protocols and ensure prolonged survival of RCC patient in the near future.