Imperial College London researchers looked at samples of kidney cells from people with von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) syndrome.

The researchers said the discovery could pave the way for new treatments.

This inherited condition increases a person's risk of a number of benign and malignant tumours - especially in the kidneys - due to faults in the VHL gene.

Until now, it has not been clear how faults in VHL can lead to the development of kidney cancer. But these findings shed light on how the faulty gene predisposes a cell to cancerous changes.

The researchers found that kidney cells with faulty VHL were lacking a normal protein molecule, called e-cadherin, which contributes to normal cell behaviour. By investigating the cells further, the team were able to discover the underlying mechanism behind this loss.