Histologic diversity in chromophobe renal cell carcinoma does not impact survival outcome: A comparative international multi-institutional study

Abstract

Predicting the clinical behavior and trajectory of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) by histologic features has so far proven to be challenging. It is known that ChRCC represents a heterogeneous group of neoplasms demonstrating variable, yet distinctive morphologic and genetic profiles. In this international multi-institutional study, we aimed to assess the impact of histologic diversity in ChRCC (classic/eosinophilic versus rare subtypes) on survival outcome. This is an international multi-institutional matched case-control study including 14 institutions, examining the impact of histologic subtypes of ChRCC on survival outcome. The study group (cases) included 89 rare subtypes of ChRCC. The control group consisted of 70 cases of ChRCC including classic and eosinophilic features, age- and tumor size-matched. Most of the rare subtypes were adenomatoid cystic/pigmented ChRCC (66/89, 74.2%), followed by multicystic ChRCC (10/89, 11.2%), and papillary ChRCC (9/89, 10.1%). In the control group, there were 62 (88.6%) classic and 8 (11.4%) eosinophilic ChRCC. There were no statistically significant differences between the study and control groups for age at diagnosis, gender distribution, tumor size, presence of tumor necrosis, presence of sarcomatoid differentiation, and adverse outcomes. No statistically significant differences were found in clinical outcome between the rare subtypes and classic/eosinophilic groups by tumor size, necrosis, and sarcomatoid differentiation. Further, no statistically significant differences were found in clinical outcome between the two groups, stratified by tumor size, necrosis, and sarcomatoid differentiation. Our findings corroborated previous studies that both sarcomatoid differentiation and tumor necrosis were significantly associated with poor clinical outcome in classic/eosinophilic ChRCC, and this was proven to be true for ChRCC with rare histologic subtypes as well. This study suggests that rare morphologic patterns in ChRCC without other aggressive features play no role in determining the clinical behavior of the tumor.

Keywords: Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma; Grading; Kidney; Outcome; Subtypes; Survival.