Review maps tumors linked to horseshoe kidney malformation

Simona Gurzu, Andrei Fulop and Tivadar Bara Jr. screened more than 4,000 available studies on horseshoe kidney and selected 89 representative articles that documented the most common genetic lesions and tumor types seen in these patients. The work, published on 17 September 2026, is presented as an updated review of malignancies associated with the anomaly.

Across the selected literature, three tumor categories dominate the record.

The authors contribute their own case to this rare category, presenting what they describe as the 39th case of a neuroendocrine neoplasm in a horseshoe kidney reported to date in Medline- and Web of Science-indexed literature. Their tally places the broader numbers in context: of the 127 neuroendocrine tumors of the kidney reported through 2025, including their own case, 39 were associated with a horseshoe kidney, a proportion the authors calculate as 30.71 percent. Because these figures derive from indexed case reports rather than a defined patient population, they reflect what has been published, not the true frequency of the association in the general population.

The authors frame this as a hypothesis grounded in their extensive literature review rather than a tested mechanism, and the article is published as an open-access, peer-reviewed accepted manuscript that remains subject to further edits before the final version of record. For clinicians, the practical takeaway is descriptive: the review consolidates scattered case-level evidence into a single updated reference on which malignancies have been reported in horseshoe kidneys and which genetic lesions have accompanied them, while the rare neuroendocrine association continues to rest on a few dozen documented cases worldwide.

Subject of Research: A literature review of malignancies associated with horseshoe kidney, including renal cell carcinoma, urothelial carcinoma, Wilms tumor and rare neuroendocrine neoplasms.

Article Title: Malignancies in horseshoe kidneys: an updated review

Article References: Gurzu, S., Fulop, A., & Bara, T., Jr. (2026). Malignancies in horseshoe kidneys: an updated review. Diagnostic Pathology. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13000-026-01855-y

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s13000-026-01855-y

Keywords: horseshoe kidney, renal cell carcinoma, Wilms tumor, urothelial carcinoma, neuroendocrine neoplasm, tumorigenesis, literature review, Diagnostic Pathology, congenital kidney malformation, genetic lesions, Malignancies, horseshoe