Kidney tumours

Benign kidney tumours

The most common benign kidney tumours are oncocytomas and angiomyolipomas. Compared to malignant kidney tumours, they occur relatively rarely.

Malignant kidney tumours

The most common malignant kidney tumour is renal cell carcinoma. Alongside genetic factors, risk factors include smoking, obesity and rare toxins. Renal cell carcinomas are often diagnosed by accident as part of ultrasound or CT examinations on account of other diseases.

The treatment consists in nephron-sparing tumour resection (partial nephrectomy) or kidney removal (nephrectomy), which can be performed as open or laparoscopic procedures. Advanced renal cell carcinomas with metastatic spread can be treated using advanced medicines that inhibit the signal transduction of tumour cells. In very rare cases, malignant kidney tumours occur in childhood, including Wilms’ tumours, renal sarcomas, renal lymphomas and renal metastases.