The European Association of Urology (EAU) Annual Meeting is one of the most influential academic events in the global urology field, playing a crucial role in promoting innovation and optimizing clinical practices. Research on renal cancer, one of the three major urological malignancies, sparked intense discussions at this year’s meeting. Two studies by Professor Xiongjun Ye and his team from the Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (P294 and P334) received widespread attention, providing non-invasive solutions for accurate renal cancer diagnosis and offering scientific support for the combination therapy of renal cancer. UroStream had the privilege to invite Professor Xiongjun Ye to introduce his team’s progress and share the value of multidisciplinary collaboration.1. UroStream: MRI has rapidly developed, but challenges remain in accurately identifying renal tumors. What advancements has your team made in this area?
Professor Xiongjun Ye: Currently, the diagnosis of renal tumors primarily relies on imaging examinations such as CT and MRI. Our team has long focused on preoperative non-invasive MRI techniques to predict the pathological types of renal tumors, aiming to assist in accurate prognosis judgment while reducing costs and complications. This year, a study by our team and collaborators was selected for a poster at the 2025 EAU Annual Meeting. The study included nearly 400 renal tumor patients, including clear cell carcinoma (153 cases), angiomyolipoma (110 cases), papillary renal cell carcinoma (67 cases), and chromophobe carcinoma (62 cases). Using artificial intelligence combined with radiomics, we successfully differentiated benign and malignant renal tumors with an AUC value of 0.905. Additionally, we were able to distinguish clear cell carcinoma from papillary renal cell carcinoma (AUC = 0.895) and clear cell carcinoma from chromophobe carcinoma (AUC = 0.811). This approach achieves relatively accurate non-invasive pathological prediction, aiding in tumor type identification and prognosis assessment. In the future, we hope to expand our sample size and conduct multi-center studies, allowing radiomics combined with deep learning to be widely used for pathological type judgment and benefiting more renal tumor patients.
2. UroStream: Multinodular distribution within tumors is a characteristic feature of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), leading to tumor heterogeneity and varying efficacy. Could you share the results of your research on this and its significance in overcoming tumor heterogeneity?
Professor Xiongjun Ye: In clinical practice, we observe that renal tumors often present with multinodular features. These nodules differ in their evolutionary mechanisms, biological characteristics, and response to tumor treatments, which became a focus of our team’s research. This study was honored to be selected for a poster at the 2025 EAU Annual Meeting. We found that there were differences in the tumor microenvironment and drug sensitivity between different tumor nodules. Specifically, smaller nodules exhibited higher levels of T-cell infiltration and were more sensitive to immunotherapy, while larger nodules showed less T-cell infiltration but were more responsive to targeted therapy. This discovery further validates the rationale and effectiveness of using targeted and immune combination therapy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma, providing a basis for clinical treatment strategies.
3. UroStream: Post-curative surgery recurrence management is a hot topic in renal cancer treatment, with options like second surgeries, TKI, immunotherapy, and radiotherapy. What is your view based on clinical experience?
Professor Xiongjun Ye: Post-curative surgery, recurrence, and metastasis of renal cancer lesions are critical aspects of clinical management. In clinical practice, two core issues must be addressed: the number of recurrent lesions (whether single or multiple) and whether there is distant metastasis. For a single lesion recurrence, nephron-sparing surgery is recommended if feasible. For multiple metastases, achieving R0 resection is essential for tumor-free status when possible, which benefits the patient’s long-term survival. However, when R0 resection is not feasible, multidisciplinary therapy should be employed, including targeted therapy combined with immunotherapy, and possibly radiotherapy, aiming for optimal tumor-free or controlled survival. Additionally, for distant metastasis, our hospital has started researching full-coverage radiotherapy, with preliminary results showing significant improvements in overall survival (OS).
4. UroStream: How can we establish a multidisciplinary collaboration mechanism between urology, oncology, and radiotherapy departments to optimize the full management of advanced renal cancer?
Professor Xiongjun Ye: The multidisciplinary treatment of advanced metastatic renal cancer was one of the highlights at this year’s EAU meeting. During the case discussion session, we witnessed in-depth discussions and collaborations between experts from various fields such as oncology, radiology, pathology, and radiotherapy. This multidisciplinary approach is crucial for the systemic treatment of metastatic renal cancer: radiotherapy experts can significantly improve OS by applying full-coverage radiotherapy for metastatic lesions, particularly controlling bone metastases. At the same time, oncology experts can use first-line targeted and immune therapies and combination therapies to bring significant survival benefits to patients. This close collaboration across disciplines provides an optimized treatment plan for advanced metastatic renal cancer patients, contributing to improved long-term survival.
Professor Xiongjun Ye
- Deputy Director of Urology Department, Cancer Hospital Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
- Chief Physician, Professor, and Doctoral Supervisor
- Chairman of the Rotation Board of Beijing Cancer Prevention and Treatment Society
- Vice Chairman of the Urology Branch, Chinese Society of Sexual Medicine
- Vice Chairman of the Male Reproductive Tumors Committee, China Human Health Technology Promotion Association
- Member of the Robotics Group, Urology Branch, Chinese Medical Association
- Member of the Reconstructive and Repair Group, Urology Branch, Chinese Medical Association
- Member of the Renal and Urothelial Cancer Committee, Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology
- Vice Chairman of the Urology Youth Committee, Chinese Research Hospital Urology Branch
- Executive Member of the Urology Specialist Physicians Committee, Beijing Medical Association
- Vice Chairman of the Urology Tumor Youth Committee, Beijing Anti-Cancer Association
- Youth Editorial Board Member of the Chinese Journal of Urology
- Editorial Board Member of the “Chinese Urology Diseases Prostate Cancer Guidelines”
- Editorial Board Member of the “CSCO Urothelial Cancer Guidelines”
- Editorial Board Member of the “Urology Journal (Electronic Version)”
- Editorial Board Member of the Chinese edition of British Journal of Urology International
- Editorial Board Member of the Chinese edition of Current Opinion in Urology
