Inflammation-Driven Field Cancerization in End-Stage Kidney Disease

In this issue, Takahashi, Tanaka, and colleagues provide a comprehensive genomic, transcriptomic, and spatial analysis of renal cell carcinomas (RCC) associated with end-stage renal disease. They demonstrate that the clonal expansion of a subset of proximal tubule cells, supported by an inflammatory microenvironment, gives rise to the cysts of acquired cystic kidney disease as well as to acquired cystic disease-associated RCC. See related article by Takahashi et al., p. 478.