Computed tomography imaging characteristics of clear cell papillary renal cell carcinoma

Clear cell papillary (CCP) renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is a new subtype of RCC that was formally recognized by the International Society of Urological Pathology Vancouver Classification of Renal Neoplasia in 2013. Subsequently, CCP RCC was added to the 2016 World Health Organization Classification of Tumors of the Urinary System and Male Genital Organs. In this study, we retrospectively investigated the computed tomography (CT) findings of pathologically diagnosed CCP RCC.

This study included 12 patients pathologically diagnosed with CCP RCC at our institution between 2015 and 2017. We reviewed the patient's CT data and analyzed the characteristics.

Nine solid masses and 3 cystic masses with a mean tumor size of 22.7 ± 9.2mm were included. Solid masses exhibited slight hyper-density on unenhanced CT with a mean value of 34 ± 6 Hounsfi eld units (HU), good enhancement in the corticomedullary phase with a mean of 195 ± 34HU, and washout in the nephrogenic phase with a mean of 133 ± 29HU. The walls of cystic masses enhanced gradually during the corticomedullary and nephrogenic phases. Solid and cystic masses were preoperatively diagnosed as clear cell RCC and cystic RCC, respectively.

The CT imaging characteristics of CCP RCCs could be categorized into either the solid or cystic type. These masses were diagnosed radiologically as clear cell RCC and cystic RCC, respectively.