Kidney Cancer Research Embraces Biology-Driven Precision Approach

At the 2025 Kidney Cancer Research Summit (KCRS), Dr. Ari Hakimi, a surgeon and researcher at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, helped lead key discussions on how kidney cancer research is evolving through a more individualized, biology-driven approach.

In an interview at the meeting, Hakimi described how next-generation sequencing has become a routine part of care across many cancer centers in the United States. This widespread adoption has enabled consistent, high-quality tumor profiling that can reveal actionable mutations and biological markers in a patient’s tumor.

“These tools allow us to group patients based on a specific mutation or protein marker,” Hakimi said. “That might allow us to enroll them in trials that we might have not considered beforehand.”

He emphasized that researchers and companies are now working together across institutions to identify these molecular signatures, which in turn helps expand access to precision-based clinical trials. This approach not only refines how patients are treated but also opens opportunities for those who might not have been eligible under traditional trial criteria.

Transcript

How are researchers learning to target kidney cancer more precisely based on individual biology?

Now that things like next-generation sequencing have become standard of care across many cancer centers in the U.S., there is a sense that we can profile patients rapidly with consistent assays and mechanisms. This allows us to group patients into specific categories based on a particular mutation or protein marker, which might enable us to enroll them in trials that we might not have considered beforehand.

So, there are now ways, and I think there are trials, that are looking across different companies and centers for specific events, and that will allow us to enroll patients who may not have otherwise been able to participate.

Transcript has been edited for clarity and conciseness

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