Clinicopathologic Characterization of Post-Renal Transplantation BK Polyomavirus-Associated Urothelial...

To review rare cases of BK polyomavirus (BKPyV) associated urologic carcinomas in kidney transplant recipients at one institution and in the literature.

We describe the clinicopathologic features of BKPyV-associated urologic carcinomas in a single-institution cohort.

Among 4,772 kidney recipients during 1994 to 2014, 26 (0.5%) and 26 (0.5%) developed posttransplantation urothelial carcinomas (UCs) and renal cell carcinomas (RCCs), respectively, as of 2017. Six (27%) UCs but none of the RCCs expressed large T antigen (TAg). TAg-expressing UCs were high grade with p16 and p53 overexpression (P < .05 compared to TAg-negative UCs). Tumor genome sequencing revealed BKPyV integration and a lack of pathogenic mutations in 50 cancer-relevant genes. Compared to TAg-negative UCs, TAg-expressing UCs more frequently presented at advanced stages (50% T3-T4) with lymph node involvement (50%) and higher UC-specific mortality (50%).

Post-renal transplantation BKPyV-associated UCs are aggressive and genetically distinct from most non-BKPyV-related UCs.