Targeting a cellular stress mechanism to fight kidney cancer

Endoplasmic reticulum stress is a cellular mechanism that allow damaged cells to either resolve cell injury or activate cell death, depending on the extent of damage. In the context of kidney cancer, cancer cells stimulate this stress mechanism at an intermediate level that helps them survive but does not initiate a death process.

Led by Dr Monika Gjorgjieva, researchers gathered all currently available data on endoplasmic reticulum stress in renal cancer. Their review shed light on two potential therapeutic approaches: activating endoplasmic reticulum stress beyond the threshold leading to cell death or completely blocking this stress mechanism to prevent cancer cells from taking advantage of mild endoplasmic reticulum stress.

To discover more about the known and unknown aspects of endoplasmic reticulum stress in renal cancer, download their review in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

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