WELCOME
This is the third newsletter in our series entitled Emerging Treatment Paradigms in Renal Cell Carcinoma. This issue explores the Critical Molecular Pathways in the Development and Progression of RCC.

To briefly review, in the first newsletter, RCC: Current Status and New Therapeutic Directions, we discussed the epidemiology of RCC, a cancer that has been increasing in incidence by about 2% per year for the past 2 decades and, along with other kidney and renal pelvic cancers, accounts for about 13,000 deaths each year. We also considered RCC phenotypes and prognosis, pathophysiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic work-up, and staging, as well as established and emerging therapies. The second newsletter, Clinical Advances in RCC: Putting Them Into Practice, focused on translating into clinical practice the advances in therapy that have been demonstrated in the most recent trials. Employing a case-based approach, it was designed to assist practicing oncologists in incorporating appropriate risk assessment, diagnostic tools, and treatments into their management of patients with RCC.

This third activity reviews current knowledge regarding the molecular pathways involved in the development and progression of RCC, while highlighting new agents that interrupt these signaling cascades. It also summarizes emerging studies evaluating the efficacies and patient outcomes associated with these novel agents.

Sincerely,

Gary R. Hudes, MD
Director, Genitourinary Malignancies
Medical Oncology
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania