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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Cancer Imaging and Image-directed Interventions
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1515569
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods and Applications of Tumour Metabolic Imaging in the Preclinical and Clinical Setting View all 3 articles
A retrospective study of imaging characteristics of mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma (MTSCC) in the kidney
Provisionally accepted- West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
Purpose: To strengthen the recognition of mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinomas of the kidney (MTSCC) by analyzing ultrasound and computed tomography findings. Materials and methods: This study retrospectively enrolled eleven patients with pathologically confirmed mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinomas from 2007 to 2022. The clinical, imaging, pathological features, and prognosis of all included patients were analyzed. All imaging features were evaluated in consensus by two genitourinary radiologists. Results: All patients (48 ± 17 years, male to female, 3:8) presented with a solitary renal tumor with a mean diameter of 6.3 cm. Most of the lesions were located in the renal cortex. In ultrasonography, all 11 patients underwent conventional ultrasound and color Doppler flow imaging, and only three underwent contrast-enhanced ultrasound. In computed tomography (CT) examination, 8 of the 11 patients underwent plain CT and contrast-enhanced CT, and 1 patient underwent plain CT only. Grayscale ultrasound image demonstrated that most of the lesions were homogeneously hypoechoic with clear boundaries and regular shapes. Color Doppler flow imaging showed spotty blood flow in some cases. Contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed heterogeneous mild enhancement, and the contrast agent showed 'slow in and simultaneous/fast out' pattern. Plain CT showed equal or low density. CECT scanning showed slight heterogeneous enhancement in 6 patients, mild homogeneous 3 enhancement in 2 patients. All lesions showed no hemorrhage, cystic degeneration or necrosis. Contrast-enhanced CT and contrast-enhanced ultrasound showed typical low-vascular tumors. Conclusion: MTSCC are more common in middle-aged with a significant female preponderance. CT and ultrasound showed hypovascular tumours. Preoperative imaging diagnosis is difficult. It is necessary to distinguish from other hypovascular renal tumours.multimodal imaging may be helpful for preoperative diagnosis.
Keywords: mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinomas, Kidney, contrast-enhanced ultrasound, Contrast-enhanced computed tomography, diagnosis
Received: 23 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Wang, Peng 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:
Yujia Yang, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China
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