Chromophobe: A rare histological variant of renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is an adenocarcima of the kidney. It is a highly heterogeneous disease with sixteen known subtypes out of which five predominate. The most common subtype is clear cell RCC which accounts for 75-85%. The chromophobe subtype of RCC is rarely seen. It is reported to constitute 4-5% of RCC subtype. This study was aimed at reporting the first case of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma in our community a rare histological subtype of RCC which was discovered incidentally. Our objective was to describe the clinical, histological and immunohistochemical evaluation of a case of chromophobe RCC.

Case report: We present a 60-year-old man who was seen at the surgical outpatient department of our center with a request for general health check-up. He had basic laboratory and imaging investigations. These were essentially normal except for an incidental finding of a left renal mass on abdominopelvic sonogram. Computed tomography urography showed a suspected clinically localized malignant left renal mass. Histological and immunohistochemistry are consistent with a chromophobe RCC. His clinic follow-up remains unremarkable.

Conclusion: We reported the clinical, histological and immunohistochemical evaluation of a rare case of chromophobe RCC. This was discovered incidentally following general health check. He had open radical nephrectomy and clinic follow-up 1 year after discharge has been uneventful.