Hereditary renal carcinoma and chromosomal defects

Familial renal cell carcinoma: clinical and molecular genetic aspects

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for 2% of all human cancer, but familial cases are infrequent. Riches (1963) and Griffin et al. (1984) in a population-based case-control study found a family history of renal cell carcinoma in 2.4% of affected patients compared to 1.4% of controls. Nevertheless the importance of inherited tumours in clinical practice and medical research is disproportionate to their frequency. In clinical practice recognition of familial RCC can provide opportunities to prevent morbidity and mortality by appropriate screening. In medical research recent advances in molecular genetics offer the prospect of isolating the genes involved in the pathogenesis of familial RCC and of the more common sporadic cases. In this article we review the clinical and molecular genetics of inherited renal cell carcinoma (adenocarcinoma or hypernephroma).

Familial renal cell carcinoma: hereditary or coincidental?

The familial clustering of some cancers may be related to genetic factors, shared carcinogenic exposure among relatives or chance association. In cases of familial renal cell carcinoma identifying those persons at risk for renal tumors is difficult. There have been 28 family aggregates of renal carcinoma reported since 1961 but an abnormality in the constitutional karyotype has been demonstrated in the members of only 1 of these families. Since 1980 we have identified 5 more families in which a total of 12 relatives had renal cell carcinoma. However, peripheral blood karyotypes obtained from the 7 patients and 5 unaffected relatives whom we studied showed no significant abnormalities. With current laboratory techniques it is not possible to differentiate reliably familial renal tumors occurring by chance from those hereditary tumors posing a threat to remaining relatives. Therefore, in families with multiple cases of renal cell carcinoma we recommend that screening be conducted as has been suggested for families with von Hippel-Lindau's disease, with an initial renal ultrasound for family members at age 30 years and repeat examinations every 2 to 3 years.

3p involvement in a renal cell carcinoma in von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. Region of tumor breakpoint clustering on 3p?

The cytogenetic findings in a renal cell carcinoma from a patient with von Hippel-Lindau syndrome are reported. Of the two consistent changes, one was a dicentric chromosome evolving from an unbalanced translocation between the proximal part of the short arm of chromosome 3 and the distal segment of the long arm of the X chromosome.

Proximal 3p deletion in renal cell carcinoma cells from a patient with von Hippel-Lindau disease

A case of proximal 3p deletion is reported in tumor cells from a patient with renal cell carcinoma and von Hippel-Lindau disease. This is the first report of this deletion with renal cell carcinoma. With the previously detected translocations at the same breakpoint, this report confirms the 3p14 breakpoint as critical in this neoplasm. This strongly suggests that renal cell carcinoma results from a change in the genetic material in the proximal short arm of chromosome #3.

Effects of fructose on human fibroblast metabolism: the application of DNA measurements as a basis for interpretation

A fluorometric procedure for measuring DNA was used to study growth and metabolic responses of eight cell strains of human foreskin fibroblasts. In preliminary studies this procedure gave more precise specific activity changes in N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) than did a protein activity basis, when changes in this enzyme's specific activity were investigated as a function of experimental cell manipulation. When fibroblast growth in eight cell strains was compared in 134 mM D-fructose vs. 13.4 mM glucose-supplemented minimum essential media, a significant increase in cellular DNA (50%) and protein (45%) occurred over an 11-d period. No significant differences in media pH change, lactate production, or carbohydrate uptake occurred on a DNA basis when cell metabolism was compared over the last 24 h of culture in the two media. Cells grown in fructose-containing media tended to show a reduction in NAG specific activity when compared with those grown in glucose-containing media.