Diagnostic utility of renal cell carcinoma marker in cytopathology

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) not uncommonly presents with metastases and causes diagnostic difficulty to the cytopathologist who is involved in the initial diagnostic workup of tumors with an unknown primary site. RCC marker (RCC Ma) recognizes a human proximal tubule antigen and was shown to have high specificity and relatively low sensitivity in preliminary studies on routinely processed tissue sections. We investigated the diagnostic usefulness of RCC Ma immunohistochemically in fine-needle aspiration (FNA) samples. A total of 34 FNA samples obtained from the following carcinomas were used: 7 RCCs, 5 metastatic RCCs, 4 hepatocellular carcinomas, 2 non-small cell carcinomas of the lung, 3 metastatic non-small cell carcinomas of the lung, 4 invasive ductal carcinomas of the breast, 2 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas, 4 metastatic transitional cell carcinomas of the urinary bladder, and 3 metastatic colon carcinomas. Routinely processed cell block sections of FNA specimens were stained with RCC Ma by using routine immunohistochemistry. Presence and distribution of staining were evaluated. Two of 7 (29%) primary and 2 of 5 (40%) metastatic RCCs showed immunoreactivity in less than 50% of carcinoma cells. Staining was focal, cytoplasmic, and granular. Scattered positive cells were present in two of the four hepatocellular carcinomas. All breast, lung, pancreas, colon, and transitional cell carcinomas were negative. RCC antibody has a low sensitivity (33%), most likely because of its focal staining pattern, and a high specificity (91%) in FNA specimens. Immunoreactivity in metastatic carcinoma of an unknown primary site, especially as part of a panel of antibodies, is useful in diagnostic cytopathology. RCC antibody has not been studied in hepatocellular carcinoma, and the significance of positivity observed in some of our cases is unclear.