Contemporary data
on the classification of renal cell tumors
Papanikolaou A., Ékonomopoulos G., Leontsini M.
Department of Pathology, “Hippocration” General Hospital of
Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Our understanding on the morphologic and cytogenetic features
of renal cell neoplasms has brought about profound changes in
the classification of these tumors. In the First International
Workshop on renal epithelial tumors held by the World Health Organization
(1997), it was accepted that the “granular” and “sarcomatoid”
carcinomas are not distinct entities, since granular or spindle
cell features may be seen in many tumor types. Furthermore, the
term “clear cell carcinoma” was changed to “conventional carcinoma”.
It was accepted that an ideal grading system remains to be established
and that the Fuhrman grading system is the most widely used. The
TNM ’97 staging system has been shown to correlate well with survival.
This article describes the main tumor types in the new morphologic
classification of renal tumors and emphasizes their clinical and
genetic correlates.
Key words: Renal epithelial tumors, renal cell carcinoma,
classification, grading, staging.
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