Renal oncocytoma – an incidentaloma

Renal oncocytoma account for 3 to 7% of primary renal tumors. It is usually diagnosed incidentally and typically has a benign behavior. No currently used imaging techniques can reliably distinguish it from malignant lesions. Similarly, the microscopic diagnosis of oncocytoma remains a challenge. We present a case of an asymptomatic elderly, hypertensive, diabetic and with moderate chronic renal insufficiency, who underwent radical nephrectomy for a solid exophytic lesion of 4.7 cm in the renal pole, detected accidentally. Pathological examination revealed a renal oncocytoma. In this situation, partial nephrectomy would be the preferred surgical treatment, avoiding the long‐term risk of living with a single kidney. The lack of diagnostic tools that reliably differentiate between benign and malignant lesions makes this an important area of study, in order to reduce the number of surgical interventions and the associated morbidity