LOT and HOT … or not. The proliferation of clinically insignificant and poorly characterised types of renal neoplasia.

The classification of malignant tumours is influenced by both immunohistochemical and molecular genetic findings. This is highlighted in the latest World Health Organization classification of renal neoplasia, which has a tumour category of 'tumours that are molecularly defined'. This implies that the defining molecular features are integral to tumourigenesis, which may not necessarily be the case.

A comparison of cancer statistics in New Zealand and Australia: 1996-2007.

Aim: To compare the burden and outcomes of cancer in New Zealand with those in Australia.

Methods: For the years 1996-1997 and 2006-2007, the incidence and mortality of cancer in New Zealand and Australia was compared to determine if differences between the two countries had changed over the decade under study. Summarised cancer data from New Zealand and Australia, age standardised to the 2002 World Health Organisation's standard population, were used to make the comparisons.

Patterns of failure after iodine-125 seed implantation for prostate cancer.

Purpose: To determine the site of relapse when biochemical failure (BF) occurs after iodine-125 seed implantation for prostate cancer.

Materials And Methods: From 2001-2009, 500 men underwent implantation in Wellington, New Zealand. Men who sustained BF were placed on relapse guidelines that delayed restaging and intervention until the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) was ⩾20 ng/mL.

Grading of clear cell renal cell carcinoma should be based on nucleolar prominence.

Fuhrman grading of renal cell carcinoma focuses on features of nuclear size, nuclear shape, and nucleolar prominence. Despite the reported widespread usage of Fuhrman grading in clinical studies, there is debate as to the prognostic significance and reproducibility of its criteria. It has been noted that many pathologists rely on assessment of nucleolar prominence alone when grading renal cell carcinoma; however, the validity of this remains unconfirmed.

Parameters of perineural invasion in radical prostatectomy specimens lack prognostic significance.

The prognostic significance of perineural invasion by prostate cancer is debated. We have evaluated the association between biochemical failure and measurements of perineural invasion in radical prostatectomy specimens. Perineural invasion was identified in sections using S-100 protein immunostaining.

Outcome prediction for renal cell carcinoma: evaluation of prognostic factors for tumours divided according to histological subtype.

A wide variety of parameters have been investigated for their prognostic significance in mixed series of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The classification of RCC into separate types with differing morphology, genotype and probable clinical outcome has led to a re-evaluation of many prognostic parameters with studies confined to a single RCC morphotype. Tumour stage remains the most important predictor of RCC outcome and recent investigations have focused upon tumour diameter and the prognostic significance of stromal, vascular and lymphatic invasion within the renal sinus.

Fuhrman grading is not appropriate for chromophobe renal cell carcinoma.

This study was undertaken to assess the prognostic effectiveness of Fuhrman nuclear grading and the individual components of this grading system, in a series of chromophobe renal cell carcinomas. Eighty-seven cases of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma were investigated. There were 47 males and 40 females, 28 to 78 years of age.

The evolution of collagen expression in sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma.

The development of a sarcomatoid morphotype is recognized as an extreme form of dedifferentiation in renal cell carcinoma and is associated with a poor prognosis. Although sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma shows pronounced spindle cell morphology, clear cell renal cell carcinoma may show early spindle cell change with cellular elongation, and the prognostic significance of this is debated. To determine the relationship between sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma and clear cell renal cell carcinoma showing early spindle cell change, we have investigated collagen expression using immunohistochemistry in these 2 tumor types.

Nucleolar grade but not Fuhrman grade is applicable to papillary renal cell carcinoma.

This study was undertaken to determine the validity of Fuhrman grading in a series of papillary renal cell carcinomas (PRCCs), to examine the interrelationship and prognostic significance of the individual components of the grading system, and further to determine whether any observed predictive value was independent of other prognostic indicators. Ninety cases of PRCC were studied. Fifty-nine tumors were of type 1 and 31 were of type 2.