In SF medium composed of DMEM supplemented with 1% insulin-transferrin-selenium (ITS; Invitrogen, Burlington, Ontario, Canada) silencing of ADAM17 was sufficient to abrogate the ability of both 786-0 cells to proliferate to levels similar to those observed in renal carcinoma cells upon stable silencing of EGFR. Here, ADAM17 is linked to renal carcinoma.