Purpose: The reported incidence of satellite tumor lesions in renal cell carcinoma (7% to 25%) suggests that there is a risk of local recurrence after nephron sparing surgery. It remains largely unknown whether small satellite tumors show malignant features and whether they are metastases from the primary tumor. Therefore, we determined the clonality of multifocal tumors by molecular genetic analysis.
Materials and methods: A total of 19 multifocal clear cell renal cell carcinomas were investigated by microsatellite analysis using 6 markers for chromosome 3p, namely D3S1560, D3S1289, D3S1766, D3S1300, D3S1566 and D3S1663. Polymerase chain reaction was performed according to standard protocols, followed by gel electrophoresis and automated analysis using an automated DNA sequencer (Li-Cor, Lincoln, Nebraska).
Results: All primary clear cell tumors were characterized by loss of heterozygosity on 3p. Multifocal tumors showed identical microsatellite alterations with at least 1 marker in 17 of the 19 cases. In 2 cases different microsatellite patterns were detected in tumors from the same kidney.
Conclusions: Identical loss of heterozygosity and shift patterns detected in different tumors in the same kidney strongly suggest that multifocal clear cell renal cell carcinomas have a common clonal origin in most cases. These findings indicate that satellite tumors are the result of intrarenal metastasis from the primary tumor. The clinical implications of these results must be correlated with the clinical disease course in patients with multifocal renal cell carcinoma.