Cytofluorometric and cytogenetic evaluation of renal cell carcinoma: correlations with the clinical course

The tumor specimens of 20 patients who underwent radical nephrectomy for nonfamiliar unifocal renal cell carcinoma were evaluated with conventional histopathology, cytogenetic analysis and evaluation of nuclear ploidy with cytofluorometry. The pathological stages were 1 T1N0M0, 10 T2N0M0, 1 T2N + M0, 6 T3N0M0 and 2 T3N + M0. Eleven tumors presented clonal chromosomal abnormalities, 2 had chromosomal instability and 7 normal karyotype. Rearrangement of chromosome 3 was documented in 2 cases only, in contrast with previous observations in the literature. Ten patients had a diploid or peridiploid DNA tumor content, 1 tetraploid, 4 triploid and 5 multiclonal. No correlation was found between nuclear ploidy and karyotype. Chromosomal abnormalities did not impact on survival, while a statistically significant correlation was found with diploid nuclear DNA content, since with a mean follow-up of 45.7 months, 9 out of 10 patients with diploid and peridiploid tumors are alive (p < 0.02), while 8 out of 10 nondiploid died of disease progression.