ABSTRACT
Renal parenchymal tumours were originally considered to arise from ectopic adrenal rests, hence the coining of the term hypernephroma. Chromophobe renal cell carcinomas account for approximately 5% of renal carcinomas. In contrast to clear cell and papillary tumours, which characteristically arise from the proximal tubule, chromophobe carcinomas are thought to arise from the cortical collecting duct. Benign renal tumours include papillary and metanephric adenomas, renal oncocytomas, angiomyolipomas, fibromas and lipomas. Thermal ablation using radiofrequency or cryotherapy approaches has become an established treatment for smaller localized, early stage renal cell cancer, particularly in patients with operable disease who are considered high risk due to significant comorbidity or advancing age or in patients with bilateral disease. Everolimus, an orally active mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor was initially evaluated as a treatment option for patients failing prior vascular endothelial growth factordirected or cytokine treatment.
