The Keystone Program in Personalized Kidney Cancer Therapy
The Plan
“The basic, translational and clinical components of this Keystone Program work together like spokes in a wheel, arranged around a central hub that is already one of the finest knowledge bases in the world in terms of kidney cancer.” – Robert Uzzo, M.D.
This Keystone Program builds upon the combined medical, surgical, and laboratory research expertise already present at Fox Chase. Within the program, basic, translational, and clinical research projects address distinct but complementary areas of kidney cancer, including the molecular mechanisms that initiate cancer, predictors of tumor progression and metastasis, and novel therapeutic approaches.
A unique feature of this research is the Core Renal Infrastructure Module (CRIM), which links clinical, pathologic, and experimental data. The CRIM will build on the database already established by Robert Uzzo, M.D., which contains clinical information from over 700 surgical patients – one of the largest kidney cancer databases in the world. The current patient volume at Fox Chase – close to 800 patients each year – will feed the engine of laboratory research with biological specimens and clinically relevant data.
The program is designed to foster a continuous loop of innovation and discovery. The program is built on a model in which advances in basic research will lead to translational studies, translational studies will lead to clinical trials, and clinical trials will lead to biospecimens available for further basic and translational studies, stimulating even greater clinical advances.