Which term describes cancer that arises from the cells lining the proximal tubules of the kidney?

• A. Urothelial Carcinoma
• B. Papillary Carcinoma
• C. Renal Cell Carcinoma
• D. Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Answer: (C)

Renal cell carcinoma describes cancer that arises from the kidney’s tubular epithelial cells, most often those lining the proximal tubules in the nephron. This origin from the proximal tubule epithelium is what defines RCC as the kidney cancer that starts in the renal parenchyma rather than in the urinary collecting system.

Urothelial carcinoma comes from the urothelium lining the renal pelvis, ureter, and bladder, not the proximal tubules. Papillary carcinoma refers to a growth pattern RCC can take and is not by itself the designation for proximal-tubule origin. Squamous cell carcinoma arises from squamous epithelium and is not typical for the kidney’s proximal tubules. So the term for cancer arising from the cells lining the proximal tubules is renal cell carcinoma.