General and Systemic Histopathology, C601&C602
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The appearance of this
malignancy is a little atypical. Generally the metastases pretty
faithfully reproduce the histological pattern of the primary lesion.
Renal cell is probably the one tumor that most consistently breaks this
rule. Here we see two patterns in the same metastatic focus; a spindle
pattern and the more typical clear cell pattern. See this slide with the virtual microscope. |
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This slide shows the "spindle cell" variant of this malignancy. It is actually not the typical appearance, but the next slide does show the more characteristic so-called clear cell pattern. This slide shows lung tissue essentially replaced with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Notice how in this area the malignant cells have an elongate or spindle appearance. Some cancers, especially renal cell carcinoma, can show a multifaceted histological pattern. It would be very difficult to make an accurate diagnosis as to the origin of this tumor if this were the only piece of tissue given the pathologist. |