Evaluation of the clinical behavior of unclassified renal cell carcinoma and its imaging findings on computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging based on World Health Organization (WHO) 2022.

OBJECTIVES

To ascertain the clinical behaviors of unclassified renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and its characteristic imaging findings on CT and MRI.

METHODS

Subjects in this retrospective study were 10 patients who had received a histological diagnosis of unclassified RCC based on World Health Organization (WHO) 2022 and who had undergone CT and/or MRI prior to surgery. In terms of clinical behaviors, TNM classification, stage, postoperative recurrence, time to recurrence, and postoperative survival were evaluated. In terms of imaging findings, tumor size, growth pattern, CT density, dynamic contrast-enhancement (DCE) pattern, internal appearance, presence of a pseudocapsule, and signal intensity on MRI were evaluated. We compared clinical behaviors and imaging findings, and investigated associations between them.

RESULTS

One patient could not be followed-up due to death from other causes. Postoperative recurrence was observed in 4 patients, all of whom had Stage 3 RCC. In the remaining 5 patients without recurrence, all 5 patients showed Stage 2 or below. On imaging, unclassified RCC tended to be large (58.7 mm) and solid (100%), and heterogeneous interiors (80%), cystic degeneration (80%) and high intensity on diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) (71.4%) were common. Comparing patients with and without recurrence, the following findings tended to differ between recurrence and recurrence-free groups: tumor size (73.4 ± 33.9 mm vs. 50.2 ± 33.9 mm, P = 0.286), growth pattern (invasive: 100% vs. 0%, expansive: 0% vs. 100%, P = 0.008 each), DCE pattern (progressive enhancement pattern, 66.7% vs. 0%, washout pattern, 0% vs. 66.7%, P = 0.135 each) and presence of a pseudocapsule (25% vs. 80%, P = 0.167).

CONCLUSION

The clinical behavior of unclassified RCC varies widely. Although imaging findings are also variable, findings of large, heterogeneous tumors with cystic degeneration and high intensity on DWI were common. Several imaging findings such as large size, invasive growth, progressive enhancement pattern and no pseudocapsule may enable prediction of prognosis in unclassified RCC.