Shared chromosome 21q loss in a mixed subtype renal cell carcinoma: composite or collision tumor?

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) and papillary renal cell carcinoma (PRCC) are the two most frequently encountered subtypes of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Rarely, these two entities are identified intermingled within the same mass and have been labeled either collision tumors juxtaposed by random chance or composite tumors that have arisen from a common tumorigenic precursor cell. Regarding this distinction, authors have commonly relied upon macroscopic, histologic, and clinicopathologic findings, which may be prone to subjectivity.