Advances in Novel Biomarkers for Kidney Cancer

A special issue of Current Oncology (ISSN 1718-7729). This special issue belongs to the section "Genitourinary Oncology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 June 2026 | Viewed by 498

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Urology, Division of Surgery, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
Interests: kidney cancer; renal cell carcinoma; biomarkers; transcriptomics; immune microenvironment

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Approximately 400,000 new cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed annually across the globe. While a majority of cases are detected incidentally and at low stages, those with metastatic disease may only have a 15% 5-year survival. In addition, those with local disease on presentation may experience recurrence after initial treatment. Thus, it is important to properly risk stratify patients for appropriate treatment decisions.

Currently, there are no blood- or tissue-based biomarkers for kidney cancer that are widely adopted for clinical practice. This need has led to considerable interest and research in the field, with exciting advances such as the creation of immunologic or multigene signatures, circulating tumor DNA, and evaluation urine- and blood-based biomarkers.

This Special Issue of Current Oncology will focus on emerging biomarkers in kidney cancer, including performance in differentiating benign or malignant renal masses, localized, high-risk localized, or metastatic disease. All subtypes of kidney cancer will be addressed. 

Dr. Brittney Hanerhoff Cotta
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • kidney cancer
  • renal cell carcinoma
  • biomarkers
  • genomics
  • risk stratification
  • prognosis

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 449 KB  
Article
Metastatic Tumour Burden as Prognostic Factor in Nivolumab-Treated Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: An Exploratory Study
by Mario Uccello, Abigail L. Gee, James A. Bennett, Helen L. Hazell, Manuel Ruiz-Echarri Rueda and Mark J. Beresford
Curr. Oncol. 2026, 33(6), 320; https://doi.org/10.3390/curroncol33060320 - 28 May 2026
Viewed by 105
Abstract
Introduction: Prognostic assessment remains fundamental in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Established prognostic models, such as the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) and Meet-URO classifications, are widely used but do not directly quantify the metastatic tumour burden. We evaluated the [...] Read more.
Introduction: Prognostic assessment remains fundamental in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Established prognostic models, such as the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium (IMDC) and Meet-URO classifications, are widely used but do not directly quantify the metastatic tumour burden. We evaluated the prognostic value of metastatic tumour burden in nivolumab-treated mRCC and developed an exploratory composite prognostic score integrating the tumour burden with systemic inflammation and performance status. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively analysed consecutive patients with mRCC initiating nivolumab as a second- or third-line therapy at a single UK centre between March 2017 and November 2024. Their baseline clinical, laboratory and radiological data were collected. The metastatic tumour burden was defined as involvement of ≥2 metastatic organ sites, excluding lymph nodal, soft tissue, renal, pancreatic and thyroid metastases, while including bone metastases. The Bath score combined the metastatic tumour burden, systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) and Karnofsky performance status (KPS). Overall survival (OS) was analysed using Kaplan–Meier methods and a Cox regression, and the prognostic performance was compared using Harrell’s concordance index (C-index). Results: Fifty-one patients were included. After a median follow-up of 46.1 months, the median OS was 30.4 months. In the univariate analyses, a KPS < 80%, high SII, elevated platelet count and ≥2 metastatic organ sites were significantly associated with inferior OS. A KPS < 80% was the only variable retaining statistical significance in the multivariate analysis. The Bath score was significantly associated with OS (log-rank p < 0.001) and showed a numerically higher C-index than the IMDC and Meet-URO in this cohort (0.779 [optimism corrected, 0.760] vs. 0.641 and 0.706, respectively), with separation of risk groups. Conclusions: In this real-world cohort of nivolumab-treated mRCC, the metastatic tumour burden, systemic inflammation, and performance status were associated with survival. The Bath score should be regarded as exploratory and hypothesis-generating and requires validation in larger contemporary cohorts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Novel Biomarkers for Kidney Cancer)
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