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Renal adenoma

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Summary

There are many points of similarity between the so-called renal adenoma and renal adenocarcinoma; however, except that such tumors rarely metastasize, there has been no direct evidence until recently to argue against the notion that small glandular tumors of the renal cortex represent adenomas. Evidence is reviewed in this paper that small cortical glandular neoplasms, even when well differentiated, show abnormal DNA content and patterns of distribution by DNA cytometry that indicates such tumors are malignant. Practically speaking, it is not essential to prove that the small, well differentiated renal neoplasms are fundamentally carcinomas. It is essential only that for patients with such tumors that the patient and the physician understand that the likelihood of recurrence or metastasis is vanishingly rare. However, for small renal tumors of higher grade, it is important that the physician understand that there is a definite possibility of local recurrence or distant metastasis, a possibility which increases with both the size of the tumor and the tumor grade. In my view all renal cortical glandular tumors showing any degree of cytologic atypias should be designated as carcinomas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomic Pathology and Clinical Laboratories, Children's Hospital of San Francisco, California, USA

    J. L. Bennington

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Bennington, J.L. Renal adenoma. World J Urol 5, 66–70 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327059

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