Background/Objectives: Chemerin, which is a multifunctional cytokine and adipokine, has been implicated in inflammatory and metabolic processes and might play a role in upper gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies, particularly gastric and esophageal cancer. The aim of this review is to explore the role of chemerin in the pathophysiology of upper GI cancers, as well as its potential as a biomarker for early detection and as a therapeutic target. Methods: A comprehensive review of recent studies about chemerin’s biochemical properties and interaction with its receptors, as well as its effects on inflammatory responses, immune regulation, and metabolic processes, was conducted. The clinical implications of chemerin for gastric and esophageal cancer were analyzed, whereas the potential therapeutic strategies targeting chemerin were discussed. Results: Elevated chemerin levels are associated with poor prognosis in gastric cancer and promote invasiveness and metastasis in esophageal cancer. Chemerin receptor antagonists show promising results in inhibiting cancer cell migration, invasion, and progression. Conclusions: Chemerin could represent a valuable prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for upper GI cancers. Future observational studies should validate its clinical applications and investigate the efficacy of chemerin inhibitors as potential therapeutic targets.

Copyright: © 2026 Kalfoutzou et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Renal oncocytoma is a rare benign kidney tumor arising from the intercalated cells of the distal renal tubules. These tumors are often asymptomatic and incidentally discovered on imaging. This report presents an 82-year-old female patient with gross hematuria, who was subsequently diagnosed with a small renal oncocytoma. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen revealed a lesion in the upper left kidney, diagnosed as a renal oncocytoma by histopathological examination of a tissue specimen obtained via a CT-guided biopsy. After multidisciplinary review, the tumor board recommended local treatment with percutaneous cryoablation due to the lesion’s small size and indolent nature. The patient has been on annual follow-up with imaging showing no disease progression over two years. This case highlights the management considerations for renal oncocytoma, particularly in elderly patients, and underscores the role of biopsy and multidisciplinary evaluation in deciding optimal, minimally invasive treatment strategies for benign renal tumors.

Hyperammonemic encephalopathy (HE) is a rare but serious neurological condition characterized by an acute alteration in mental status due to elevated serum ammonia levels, occurring in the absence of known liver disease. The build-up of ammonia, a by-product of protein metabolism, in the bloodstream leads to its crossing of the blood-brain barrier, where it acts as a neurotoxin, causing potentially reversible brain damage. Chemotherapeutic agents such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) are known to cause drug-induced HE. Our case reports a 63-year-old woman who presented with several episodes of reduced consciousness shortly after 5-FU administration, highlighting the necessity of monitoring serum ammonia levels in patients treated with 5-FU who develop neurological symptoms, and the need for expert consultation in attempting a 5-FU rechallenge.