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Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma
Papillary renal cell carcinoma is also known as Type I papillary renal cell carcinoma. Previously, this disease was also known as Chromophillic renal cell carcinoma. Papillary renal cell carcinoma represents the second most common type of kidney cancer accounting for approximately 10 to 15% of all the kidney cancers which are diagnosed.
Papillary renal cell carcinomas are generally considered a less aggressive type of kidney cancer. These tumors are often diagnosed at the time of autopsy when the patient has died of another cause. In general, these tumors are usually well encapsulated, grow slowly, and have an overall lower malignant potential.
Although papillary renal cell carcinomas tend to be less aggressive when compared to conventional renal cell carcinomas, these tumors do have a tendency to be multi-focal (have more than one lesion in a kidney). In some reports, up to 40% of papillary renal cell carcinomas have been associated with multi-focality.
Papillary Type II Carcinoma
A more recently described variant of the standard papillary renal
cell carcinoma (standard is referred to as type I) is type II papillary
renal cell carcinoma. The Type II papillary renal cell carcinoma
has both a different overall architecture and different genetic
characteristics compared to Type I papillary renal cell carcinoma.
Type II papillary renal cell carcinoma is a more aggressive variant
of kidney cancer and a modified surveillance protocol may be indicated
after kidney surgery for this variant. This should be discussed
with your surgeon.
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