Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Kidney tumors can be either benign (these do not grow fast and do not spread to other body parts) or malignant (grow fast and spread leading to death). Detection of small kidney tumors is often incidental because patients rarely display abnormal symptoms. The standard treatment for patients with small kidney tumors is surgical removal. However, a proportion of surgically removed small tumors are either benign or non-aggressive tumors that do not require treatment. It is estimated that 20% of patients unnecessarily undergo surgery to remove a benign or less aggressive tumor. Currently, there are no biomarkers available to accurately identify patients with aggressive tumors. A biomarker is a biological molecule that can be used to identify disease. Urine is an attractive biological fluid for biomarker discovery. The aim of this research is to identify a biomarker in urine that can distinguish aggressive, non-aggressive and benign small kidney tumors. State of the art technology was used to identify urine proteins and other molecules as biomarkers for aggressive disease. We identified proteins with altered levels in urine samples from patients with aggressive small kidney tumors. Further study is required to determine the clinical utility of identified proteins in predicting cancer aggressiveness. Analysis of a larger number of patient samples will be done using specialized instruments to verify utility of candidates. The function of promising markers will also be determined. Identified markers are expected to have clinical utility. Additionally, the functional role of identified proteins in tumor aggressiveness is also anticipated. This research will benefit Canada by contributing to the development of a cost-effective urine test with potential to significantly impact patient care. Additionally, this research will benefit the field of kidney cancer research by providing novel insight into the aggressive behavior of small kidney tumors.