Renal Cell Caricnoma essays

Renal Cell Caricnoma essays Renal Cell Carcinoma: Genetic Causes :: How does the Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome cause Renal Cell Carcinoma? In the course of researching information about Renal Cell Carcinoma, a cancer of the renal cells located in the kidney, the impact of Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome and other genetic defects resulting in the formation of Renal Carcinoma was quite interesting. A great risk factor in the diagnosis of Renal Cell Cancer and the initial tumour formation would be the family history of the disease, and/or a family history of the Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome, both of which are genetic defects that are passed down from generation to generation; analysis of this information would lead to the conclusion that genetic factors play an important role in the formation of the Renal tumours. Von Hippel-Lindau Syndrome is a genetic birth defect that is passed down through heredity. In a person that suffers from the Syndrome, the Von Hippel-Lindau Tumour Suppressor gene is deformed in certain cells, resulting in cells that turn into tumours more readily then normal cells. If a tumour does indeed form, the peripheral blood (or blood flowing alongside the tumour) will have a greater chance of picking up the deformed VHL gene. But how does the deformation of the VHL gene result in the formation of the tumour in the first place? The VHL gene mutation is a genetic disease found in 3 out of 100,000 people. Usually, carriers of this disease begin to form VHL-related tumours during ages 20-40. Some tumours that can be caused by the VHL defect are retinal blastoma, cerebellar blastoma, and, of course, renal cell carcinoma in the kidney. The VHL defect lies in the short arm of the 3rd chromosome; over 300 positions of the deformations have been reported worldwide, and some include entire deletions of the VHL gene from the chromosome. It has been discovered recently that the VHL protein that is transcripted f ...