A new and very recent investigation into the inherited cause of one of the most prevalent and commonest type of kidney cancer has effectively revealed the significant role of a single gene, but has also highlighted on more complex disease-causing machinery which is at play.

An extensive analysis of DNA of as many as 101 people diagnosed with lear cell renal carcinoma led the researchers to discover that over 50% of the cases were directly linked to mutation in a gene known as VHL.

Clear cell renal carcinoma is alone responsible for nearly 209,000 new cases and 102,000 deaths all over the world every year, as confirmed by the figures cited in the study.

The VHL gene has been widely brought to light by previous studies as its mutations appear to be applicable to cancers of the kidney alone, and not of any other organ. Also, researchers found problems in two other genes, JARID1C and SETD2 that are a part of the "molecular switching system" which is responsible for turning the kidney genes on and off.

"Even in a tumour type dominated by... a prevalent signature, even in this 'clearest' of cases, we see evidence for substantial heterogeneity", said Andy Futreal of Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, who led the research.

Details of the study have been published in the British science journal Nature.