The purpose of this study is to develop a molecular tool for non-invasive renal cancer detection, prognosis, and patient stratification in the risk groups to select the most suitable treatment for the individual patient. To achieve this aim, the following tasks will be carried out: 1. To select the most reliable epigenetic changes observed in cancerous renal tissues from genome-wide methylated DNA analysis; 2. To validate the methylation level of the selected potential epigenetic biomarkers on renal cancerous and non-cancerous tissue samples; 3. To analyse the applicability of the selected biomarkers as a non-invasive tool for the detection, prognosis, and stratification of patients with renal cancer.
This topic has clinical relevance because so far there is no non-invasive tool for renal cancer, despite its highest mortality rate among all genitourinary system neoplasia. In addition, overtreatment is also very common in renal cancer, so biomarkers that reflect disease progression would be of great importance. The study will include literature analysis, bioinformatic analysis of DNA methylation profile in renal tissues, selected biomarkers validation by quantitative methylation-specific PCR, and comprehensive statistical analysis, allowing the development of a non-invasive test for renal cancer.