Abstract: Renal cell carcinoma(RCC) is the commonest renal malignant tumor. Its staging and typing have important impacts on the treatment and survival of patients. Early detection and accurate localization of primary tumor and metastatic sites are critical to clinical diagnosis and treatment. This paper briefly reviews the application and development of positron radionuclides in the staging and typing of RCC, the detection of metastatic RCC and the monitoring after RCC treatment.