Clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma is the fourth most common histologic type of renal cell carcinoma in 290 consecutive nephrectomies for renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma (CCP-RCC) has recently been recognized as a distinct subtype of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) due to its unique morphologic, immunohistochemical, and genetic features and indolent clinical behavior. However, the incidence of this tumor in a nephrectomy series for renal mass has not been fully investigated. Twelve cases of CCP-RCC were identified from a total of 290 consecutive partial (n = 137) or radical nephrectomies (n = 153) for RCC from 2010 to 2012 in our hospital. In this series, CCP-RCC was the fourth most common (4.1%) kidney tumor following clear cell (conventional) (70%), papillary (16.6%), and chromophobe (5.9%) RCCs. The average age of the CCP-RCC patients was 58.2 years (range, 18-81 years), with an equal sex distribution. Four cases (33.3%) were associated with end-stage renal disease. Of the 12 CCP-RCCs, 9 presented as solitary tumors; 2 coexisted with clear cell RCC; and 1 with papillary RCC. The average size of tumors was 2.5 cm (range, 0.8-6.0 cm). All tumors were pT1 (10 pT1a and 2 pT1b). Two cases were initially misclassified as clear cell RCC. Strong positive cytokeratin 7 stain and negative stains with α-methylacyl-CoA racemase and RCC marker differentiate CCP-RCC from low-grade clear cell RCC with similar histologic features. We conclude that CCP-RCC is a common renal neoplastic entity, representing the fourth most common (4.1%) RCC. It can be easily misclassified due to its overlapping features with low-grade clear cell RCC. In equivocal cases, immunohistochemical stains with a small panel of markers (cytokeratin 7, α-methylacyl-CoA racemase, RCC marker, or CD10) are warranted in making the correct histologic classification.