FINE-NEEDLE ASPIRATION BIOPSY OF RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA - CYTOLOGIC PARAMETERS AND THEIR CONCORDANCE WITH HISTOLOGY AND FLOW CYTOMETRIC DATA

Fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) is increasingly utilized in the i nitial diagnosis of renal neoplasms. Nuclear grading assessment, howev er, has not been applied routinely to these neoplasms, and data on its validity are lacking. To determine the reproducibility and clinicopat hologic significance of Fuhrman's nuclear grading (FNG) on FNAB specim ens, we retrospectively analyzed cytologic and histologic tissues from 49 cases of renal cell carcinomas (RCC). Our data indicate a high con cordance between nuclear grading in FNA material and histologic specim ens (80-92%). Moreover, interobserver and intraobserver reproducibilit y was high (89-92% and 86-96% respectively). The flow cytometric DNA c ontent of 13 specimens (65%) yielded DNA diploidy in five cases (38%) and DNA aneuploidy in eight cases (62%). All eight DNA aneuploid neopl asms were FNG 3 (7 cases) and 4 (1 case), while two of the four DNA di ploid neoplasms manifested FNG 3. We conclude that cytologic nuclear g rading of RCC correlates with corresponding grading of histologic spec imens and could be performed reproducibly for clinical use.