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Cancers account for 85% of renal tumors. In Poland renal cancer is diagnosed in almost four thousands patients every year and two thousands of them dies. The most common subtype of renal cancer is clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), which accounts for 80-90% of all renal cancer cases. ccRCC is resistant to chemo- and radiotherapy. More and more data suggest that tumor growth is a result of proliferation and differentiation of a small population of cells called cancer stem cells (CSC). CSCs are responsible for tumor progression and for the resistance to chemo- and radiotherapy. This publication covers the role the CSCs and their origin in renal cell carcinoma, with particular emphasis on clear cell subtype.

Recently published papers report a large number of mitochondrial DNA mutations in many different cancer types, but their significance for electron transport chain proteins remains unknown. This review covers structural mutations of mitochondrial genes, choosing prostate cancer, esophageal cancer and epithelioma as research models. As all mitochondrial genes encode subunits of the electron transport chain, the review focuses on the consequences of structural mutations on cell metabolism.