CASE REPORT article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Genitourinary Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1544525
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Need for Pragmatic Trials in Genitourinary OncologyView all 4 articles
Diagnosis and Treatment of Renal Neuroendocrine Tumors: A Case Series and Literature Review
Provisionally accepted- The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Renal neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) are rare due to the absence of neuroendocrine cells in the kidney. Preoperative diagnosis is challenging, often leading to misdiagnosis and unnecessary nephrectomy. This study retrospectively analyzed three cases of renal NETs, reviewing their diagnosis and treatment processes. The first case involved a 46-year-old female presenting with lower abdominal pain, diagnosed with a left renal NET (G2) post-surgery. The second case was a 56-year-old female with back pain, diagnosed with a renal pelvic NET (G2) after laparoscopic nephroureterectomy. The third case was a 45-year-old female presenting with a palpable mass, diagnosed with a right renal NET (G3) with liver metastases. All cases exhibited non-specific clinical presentations and imaging findings, highlighting the difficulty in preoperative diagnosis. Surgical resection was the primary treatment for non-metastatic cases, while the metastatic case received a combination of surgical and medical therapy. This study emphasizes the need for improved preoperative diagnostic methods to avoid aggressive surgical approaches and to preserve renal units when possible. Further research is required to develop effective diagnostic tools and treatment strategies for renal NETs.
Keywords: Renal neuroendocrine tumors, diagnosis, Treatment, case series, literature review
Received: 13 Dec 2024; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, li and li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: pei li, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University, Kunming, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.