Biomarkers for evaluating racial disparities in clinical outcome in patients with renal cell carcinoma

The bulk of the literature on kidney cancer in African Americans comes from population-based studies of incidence and survival over varying periods of time using databases from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). The purpose of this review is to summarize the literature on racial disparities in clinical outcome in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with the objective of identifying any biomarkers that might point to a biological explanation for these differences. Special attention is given to biomarkers of systemic inflammation and their potential utility for kinetic risk assessment. In addition, arguments are presented as to why the study of ethnic and racial disparities is a promising strategy for accelerating the pace of biomarker development for all patients with RCC.