Eosinophilic Solid and Cystic Renal Cell Carcinoma: Morphologic and Immunohistochemical Study of 18 Cases and Review of the Literature.

Abstract

Context.—: Eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma is now defined in the 5th edition of the 2022 World Health Organization classification of urogenital tumors.

Objective.—: To perform morphologic, immunohistochemical, and preliminary genetic studies about this new entity in China for the purpose of understanding it better.

Design.—: The study includes 18 patients from a regional tertiary oncology center in northern China (Tianjin, China). We investigated the clinical and immunohistochemical features of these cases.

Results.—: The mean age of patients was 49.6 years, and the male to female ratio was 11:7. Macroscopically, 1 case had the classic cystic and solid appearance, whereas the others appeared purely solid. Microscopically, all 18 tumors shared a similar solid and focal macrocystic or microcystic growth pattern, and the cells were characterized by voluminous and eosinophilic cytoplasm, along with coarse amphophilic stippling. Immunohistochemically, most of the tumors had a predominant cytokeratin (CK) 20-positive feature, ranging from focal cytoplasmic staining to diffuse membranous accentuation. Initially, we separated these cases into different immunohistochemical phenotypes. Group 1 (7 of 18; 38.5%) was characterized by positive phospho-4EBP1 and phospho-S6, which can imply hyperactive mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling. Group 2 (4 of 18; 23%) was negative for NF2, probably implying a germline mutation of NF2. Group 3 (7 of 18; 38.5%) consisted of the remaining cases. One case had metastatic spread and exhibited an aggressive clinical course, and we detected cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 2A (CDKN2A) mutation in this case; other patients were alive and without disease progression.

Conclusions.—: Our research proposes that eosinophilic solid and cystic renal cell carcinoma exhibits prototypical pathologic features with CK20 positivity and has aggressive potential.