ArticleBMC medical imaging2026
Combined radiological approach for characterization of solid renal masses: a proposed strategy for integrating the RENAL nephrometry score into the clear cell likelihood score.
Article in BMC medical imaging, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo systematically evaluate whether the combined application of RENAL nephrometry and clear cell likelihood score (ccLS) could improve the diagnostic reliability of the ccLS in distinguishing clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).
methodsThis retrospective single-center study encompassed 140 histopathologically confirmed solid renal masses in 130 patients who underwent preoperative MRI between March 2011 and January 2025. Two radiologists independently assigned the RENAL nephrometry and ccLS for each lesion. The diagnostic performance of the ccLS and the combined radiological approach was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis in the whole study cohort and two subgroups stratified by lesion diameter (≤ 4 cm vs. >4 cm). Interreader consistency was evaluated using the kappa coefficient.
resultsOverall, 74 (52.9%) ccRCC and 66 (47.1%) non-ccRCC lesions were enrolled. Diagnostic performance analysis yielded a negative predictive value of 90.9%, a specificity of 30.3%, and an AUC of 0.638 for excluding ccRCC when lesions with a ccLS of 2 or lower were accepted as non-ccRCC. With the combined approach, considering low-complexity lesions per the nephrometry score with ccLS of 3 as non-ccRCC improved diagnostic performance using a ccLS cut-off of ≤ 2 for excluding ccRCC (AUC = 0.684, p = 0.022). The combined approach exhibited better performance in lesions ≤ 4 cm for excluding ccRCC among ccLS 3 lesions (p = 0.042). Interobserver consistency was found to be near-perfect (κ = 0.927) and substantial (κ = 0.70) for the nephrometry and ccLS, respectively.
conclusionIn this preliminary single-center cohort, the combined radiological approach was systematically evaluated for both predicting and excluding ccRCC. Its benefit was concentrated in excluding ccRCC among indeterminate ccLS 3 lesions ≤ 4 cm, reducing false-positive outcomes and enhancing diagnostic confidence and suggesting a role in risk stratification rather than detection; external validation is required before clinical adoption.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.