Carcinoma of the kidney in a 15-year-old boy.Unusual histologic features with formation of microvilli

Abstract

A granular cell adenocarcinoma of the kidney in a 15-year-old boy is described. This is the fifty-ninth case of renal cell carcinoma in a child to be recorded in the English language literature. The tumor showed a striking propensity to form microvilli which resembled intracytoplasmic inclusions in routine preparations. Their true nature was revealed by electron microscopy utilizing formalin-fixed necropsy material. This finding gives further support to the genesis of renal cell carcinoma from the tubular epithelium.