Abstract
Renal cell carcinomas of adults account for 3% of adult malignancies and 80% malignant renal tumors. The prognosis is related to several parameters. There is a close correlation between staging system and outcome.
Size of the primary tumor relates to prognosis for the very small (less than 3 cm) and the very large (over 12 cm) tumors. Nuclear grade of the tumor is an important predictor of survival especially in clear cell carcinoma and papillary carcinoma.
The WHO classification subdivides renal carcinomas into clear cell carcinoma, papillary carcinoma, chromophobe cell carcinoma, collecting duct carcinoma, medullary carcinoma, renal carcinoma associated with Xp11.2 translocations / TFE3 gene fusions, mucinous tubular and spindle cell carcinoma and unclassified carcinoma.