Diagnosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is challenging, particularly as [18F]FDG PET–CT is not routinely recommended. Novel single-domain antibody (sdAb) tracers could be useful in cancer imaging owing to their small size and high target recognition.

In the first part of a study published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, Zhou et al. analysed CD70 expression in RCC and normal kidney tissues, given its known potential as a diagnostic and therapeutic target. Normal kidney tissue did not express CD70, and CD70 expression was significantly higher in ccRCC than in papillary RCC (P < 0.001) and chromophobe RCC (P < 0.001). Notably, CD70 expression was unaffected by tumour differentiation or metastasis status.