Individuals with both sickle cell disease (SCD) and sickle cell trait are at higher risk than others of developing renal medullary cancer (RMC), the rarest and deadliest subtype of kidney cancer. Researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center have identified the molecular mechanisms behind the increased risk, gaining new insights into antitumor immunity more generally and, potentially, new ways to treat RMC, and possibly other tumors as well.

SCD “has been studied for 30 years, but 95% of the effort [has been] working on the red blood cells … how red blood cells contribute to hypoxia and then reduce oxygen supply,” Chunru Lin told BioWorld.