Histology May Depend on the Presence of Partial Monosomy or Partial Trisomy 3 in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Rearrangements of 3q were found in 10% of a series of 230 cases of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Together with observations from the literature, these structural changes can be concluded to involve two different regions, 3q21 and 3q11–12, and are usually present as unbalanced translocations. In some of these cases of RCC with the translocation, the normal chromosome 3 may reduplicate, giving rise to a partial trisomy 3q instead of a partial monosomy 3. In those cases, however, histology shows chromophilic–papillary RCC instead of clear cell–nonpapillary. Hence, besides the still unresolved underlying molecular changes causing RCC, histology may in part depend on the presence of partial monosomy or partial trisomy 3.