Renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) is an aggressive cancer that mainly affects young people of African descent. It is resistant to all targeted agents used to treat other renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) and has limited therapeutic options.

This study, published in the journal Cancer Cell analyses the genes of people with renal medullary carcinoma and finds various chromosomal abnormalities and biological features that could be potential targets for treatment by PARP inhibitors. PARP inhibitors are a group of pharmacological inhibitors of the enzyme, poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP). They are developed for multiple indications, including the treatment of heritable cancers.

This work paves the way to new clinical trials for this rare but very aggressive cancer.

Read more in Cancer Cell and Practice Update here