Cytogenetic alterations in renal tumors: a study of 38 Southeast Asian patients

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common cancer of the kidney. Cytogenetic studies of renal cell carcinoma have provided valuable insight into the chromosomal abnormalities involved in the genesis and progression of the disease, and have also helped in the classification of these tumors. Our objectives were to identify nonrandom chromosome abnormalities in renal tumors in a Southeast Asian population and also to determine if they differ from those in Western populations. Structural rearrangements of 3p were specific for clear cell RCC, with the most consistent structural rearrangement being a translocation between 3p13 and 5q22. Gains of chromosomes 7 and 17 were observed in three and two cases of papillary RCC, respectively. All male patients with papillary RCC were noted to have loss of the Y chromosome. Gains of chromosomes 3 and 7, and structural aberration of chromosome 3, were observed in patients with transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis (TCC). Chromosomal abnormalities in clear cell RCC, papillary RCC, and TCC did not differ between the Southeast Asian and Western populations. The aberrations seem to be common sporadic events, both geographically and racially.