Papillary renal cell carcinoma: what is missing in research? A case report and a review of literature

Abstract

The incidence of renal cell carcinomas in adults ranges has been increasing over the past decades in both men and women. Once the incidence was 2.9%, now is reported to have increased to 3%–5% with male predominance according to the most recent reports of cancer statistics. The disease typically describes a group of different histopathological subtypes; the most common is clear cell carcinoma which accounts for 70%–80% of the diagnosed cases, while papillary renal cell carcinoma and chromophobe types represent 20% and 5%, respectively. In 1996, the renal cell carcinomas Heidelberg classification was introduced by Delahunt et al. It divides renal cell tumors into benign and malignant parenchymal neoplasms, excluding Wilm’s tumor and secondary metastases and limiting each subcategory to the most commonly documented genetic abnormalities, if applicable. In this report, we discuss a case of metastatic type I papillary renal cell carcinoma treated with the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor sunitinib and showing marked long-term clinical response. Through this case, we highlight the importance of re-classifying papillary renal cell carcinoma subtypes to prioritize the clinical management of these cases.

Comprehensive subgroup analyses of survival outcomes between clear cell renal cell adenocarcinoma and papillary renal cell adenocarcinoma

“…Despite the variety of different targeted therapies for ccRCC (e.g., anti‐vascular endothelial growth factor receptor therapy, also known as anti‐VEGFR therapy, and mTOR pathway‐targeted therapy), there are currently no phase III clinical trial data on non‐ccRCCs 12 . VEGFR could be observed to be overexpressed in pRCC tissue, indicating a possible response to anti‐VEGFR therapy; however, the treatment effect on metastatic pRCC is insignificant 13 . Other evidence indicated that pRCC had a poorer response to the current targeted therapies for RCC than ccRCC 14 …”

“…could be observed to be overexpressed in pRCC tissue, indicating a possible response to anti-VEGFR therapy; however, the treatment effect on metastatic pRCC is insignificant. 13 Other evidence indicated that pRCC had a poorer response to the current targeted therapies for RCC than ccRCC. 14 A previous study showed that the African American population had a higher incidence of pRCC (47.9% of all RCCs) than the non-African American population (10.3% of total RCC).…”