Abstract

UGALDE, A.  and  LOPEZ, J.I.. Papillary renal cell carcinoma spectrum. Actas Urol Esp [online]. 2008, vol.32, n.8, pp.799-805. ISSN 0210-4806.

Objectives: Significant conceptual expansion of renal cancer continues to increase. The key point to this phenomenon is based on the combination of morphology and molecular data. The result is the new 2004 WHO classification of renal tumors in adults. The apparently never ending advance in molecular genetics is constantly pushing to update recently proposed listings. Material and Methods: Papillary renal cell carcinoma, considered the term in the broader sense, is the subject of this study. This histological phenotype in renal cancer, with an accelerated growth in the last times, is a good example of the never ending evolution of pathology as a clinical discipline. Results: The genetic background and the phenotype of all renal neoplasms with papillary or tubulo-papillary phenotype, or with its genetic background, some of them being very recently described entities even now under discussion is wide and heterogenous: conventional sporadic papillary carcinoma, papillary carcinomas linked to genetic syndromes (hereditary papillary carcinoma, papillary carcinoma associated to hereditary leiomyomatosis, papillary carcinoma associated to hereditary papillary thyroid carcinoma, Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome) or to specific genetic disorders (Xp11.2 associated papillary carcinoma), papillary carcinoma with distinct morphology (micropapillary carcinoma, inverted papillary carcinoma, papillary carcinoma with spindle cells and angulated tubules) and new renal carcinomas included within the group of papillary carcinoma (tubulo-cystic carcinoma and tubular, mucinous and spindle cell carcinoma). Conclusion: Aside from the classically known histological variants, several new entities, some of them still badly delineated, are progressively enlarging the group of renal carcinomas with papillary phenotype. This growth will continue in the next times on the light of the new findings and pathologists will be main actors in this fact.

Keywords : Renal tumor; WHO classification; Papillary carcinoma; Genetic disorder; Histology; Differential diagnosis.

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