Original
Vimentin Expression in Renal Cell Carcinoma and It’s Association with Histological Grade and Pathological Stage
*Adhikary P,1 Begum S,2 Ferdous JN,3 Saha AK,4 Papry A,5 Emita U6
- *Dr. Priyanka Adhikary, MBBS, MD (Pathology), Junior consultant, Department of Pathology, Pirojpur District Hospital, Pirojpur, Bangladesh. priyanka003@gmail.com. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0148-2733.
- Dr. Shahnaj Begum, Professor & Head, Department of Pathology, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dr.shahnaj68@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8210-1327.
- Dr. Jesmin Naz Ferdous, MBBS, MD(Pathology), Professor, Department of Pathology, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Limaf888@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-5412-3958.
- Dr. Anjishu Kumar Saha, MSc (Statistics) Statistician, Khulna University, Khulna Bangladesh. anjishusaha9@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2122-123X.
- Dr. Afsana Papry, MBBS, MD, Lecturer, Department of Pathology, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Afsana.papry121.ap@gmail.com ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6601-3955.
- Dr. Umama-Tun-Nesa Emita, MBBS, MD, Pathologist, Khulna Medical College and Hospital, Khulna, Bangladesh. Emita.rmc@gmail.com
*For correspondence
Abstract
Introduction: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer and the incidence of it has been steadily increasing over the past few years. The precise prediction of prognosis is very important for planning an effective therapy and follow-up visits. There are some established prognostic factors, like- histological grade, pathological stage and tumor subtypes, but the tumor behavior is difficult to predict and may show different outcome. Immunohistochemical study of several molecular markers may be helpful in this regard.
Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the expression of vimentin in renal cell carcinoma and to determine it’s association with histological types, grades and pathological stages.
Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted with 35 cases of RCC for a period of 2 years in Department of Pathology, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka. In all of histopathologically diagnosed cases of renal cell carcinoma immunohistochemical staining was done. The collected data were organized and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test and Spearman’s correlation test were used for statistical analysis. A p value of < 0.05 was considered as significant.
Results: The mean age of the study population was 53.17 ± 11.95 years & large number of patients (57.1%) were belonged to 41-60 years age group with male predominance (74.3%). Most of the patients (91.4%) presented with hematuria followed by 74.3% had flank pain and 51.4% had palpable renal mass. The most common subtype was clear cell carcinoma (68.6%) followed by papillary carcinoma (22.8%), chromophobe (5.7%) and collecting duct carcinoma (2.9%). Stage pT1 (40.0%) was the most frequent diagnosis of RCC followed by stage pT2 (34.3%) & Stage pT3 (25.7%). Grade 2 RCC was the most frequent diagnosis (40.6%) followed by 28.1% grade 3, 18.8% grade 4 and 12.5% grade 1 RCC. Vimentin expression was negative in chromophobe RCC but other subtypes showed variable degree of cytoplasmic expression of vimentin. Vimentin IHC expression was significantly high (≥8) with increase in the pathological T stage & WHO/ISUP grade of RCC (p-value 0.038 and 0.03 respectively).
Conclusion: Immunohistochemical expression of vimentin showed statistically significant association with the pathological T stage (pT) and histological grades (G) of renal cell carcinoma. Routine use of vimentin expression in conjunction with histopathological grading and staging may provide prognostic information to predict disease progression.
[Journal of Histopathology and Cytopathology, 2026 Jul; 10 (2):125-135]
DOI: https://www.doi.org/10.69950/jhc.2026.10.2.7