Type:
Educational Exhibit
Keywords:
Genitourinary, Kidney, Oncology, CT, MR, Biopsy, Diagnostic procedure, Cancer, Multidisciplinary cancer care, Pathology, Retrospective, Not applicable, Performed at one institution
Authors:
P. Correia1, J. Lopes Dias2, H. Quinto2; 1Lisboa/PT, 2Lisbon/PT
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2020/C-15322
Background
The number of renal incidentalomas has been increasing in the last few decades as the number of imaging exams keeps on growing.
Kidney tumors include a broad spectrum of histopathological entities described in 2016 by the World Health Organization [1] (Table 1).
Table 1: World Health Organization (WHO) classification of renal cell tumors.
References: Moch H, et al (2016) The 2016 WHO Classification of Tumours of the Urinary System and Male Genital Organs — Part A : Renal , Penile , and Testicular Tumours. European Urology 70(1):93–105
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for approximately 90% of the malignant renal tumors, of which 75% are clear cell, 7-15% papillary and 5% chromophobe subtype [2]. The remaining 10% includes a variety of uncommon, sporadic, familial carcinomas, rare mesenchymal tumors, neuroendocrine tumors, lymphoma, and metastasis [2].
While most cases of RCC are sporadic, there are many syndromes associated with hereditary forms of RCC, including Von Hipple-Lindau syndrome and Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.
As the prognosis depends on the histological subtype, it is important to recognize the imaging features that may provide a preliminary diagnostic. Moreover, radiologists should identify the features that help in the differentiation between benign (such as angiomyolipoma and oncocytoma) and malignant renal masses, thus avoiding unnecessary surgery.