title: Advances in molecular classification of renal neoplasms.
abstract: Kidney neoplasms are classified by light microscopy using the World Health Organization (WHO) system. The WHO system defines histopathologic tumor subtypes with distinct clinical behavior and underlying genetic mutations. In adults, the common malignant subtypes are variants of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Histopathologic classification is critical for clinical management of RCC, but is becoming more complex with recognition of novel tumor subtypes, development of procedures yielding small diagnostic biopsies, and emergence of molecular therapies directed at tumor gene activity. Therefore, classification systems based on gene expression are likely to become essential for diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of kidney tumors. Recent DNA microarray studies have shown that clinically relevant renal tumor subtypes are characterized by distinct gene expression profiles, which are useful for discovery of novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. In this review, we summarize the WHO classification system for renal tumors, general applications of microarray technology in cancer research, and specific microarray studies that have advanced knowledge of renal tumor diagnosis, prognosis, therapy and pathobiology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Yin-Goen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dale
authors.forename: W-L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phan
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Moffitt
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Petros
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Datta
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Young
mesh_terms: D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006651:Histocytochemistry / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D014944:World Health Organization
chemical_list: D004273:DNA, Neoplasm