Polyploidization and losses of chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 10, 13, and 17 in three cases of chromophobe renal cell carcinomas.

Clonal chromosome aberrations identified after short-term culture are presented for three cases of chromophobe renal cell carcinomas (RCC). All tumors revealed abnormal karyotypes with a varying proportion of polyploid tumor cells. Common numerical abnormalities were combined losses of chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 10, 13, and 17. Clonal karyotypic evolution was demonstrated in one case in which several related clones could be identified. An additional balanced translocation t(3;14)(p24;q22) observed in this case proved to be of constitutional nature by cytogenetic analysis of normal kidney cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes. These cytogenetic findings provide further evidence that chromophobe renal cell carcinomas are characterized by a highly specific combination of chromosomal losses most commonly including chromosomes 1, 2, 6, 10, 13, and 17.