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Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Oncol. Dec 24, 2021; 12(12): 1157-1168
Published online Dec 24, 2021. doi: 10.5306/wjco.v12.i12.1157
Primary vascular tumours of the kidney
Ayo O Omiyale
Ayo O Omiyale, Department of Cellular Pathology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Charing Cross Hospital, London W6 8RF, United Kingdom
Author contributions: Omiyale AO reviewed the literature and wrote the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The author declares no conflict of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ayo O Omiyale, MBChB, MPH, Doctor, Department of Cellular Pathology, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Charing Cross Hospital, Fulham Palace Road, London W6 8RF, United Kingdom. ayodeji.omiyale@nhs.net
Received: April 28, 2021
Peer-review started: April 28, 2021
First decision: June 16, 2021
Revised: July 1, 2021
Accepted: November 25, 2021
Article in press: November 25, 2021
Published online: December 24, 2021
Processing time: 239 Days and 23.9 Hours
Abstract

Primary vascular tumours of the kidney are rare and may pose diagnostic difficulties because of their similar clinical, morphological, and immunohistochemical features. This article summarizes the clinical and pathological features of primary renal angiosarcoma and anastomosing haemangioma of the kidney including epidemiology, genetics, and prognosis. Renal anastomosing haemangiomas are benign neoplasms characterized by anastomosing capillary-sized vascular channels. These tumours are rare, with about 75 cases reported in the literature. Most anastomosing haemangiomas are found incidentally on ultrasound, computed tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging. Common symptoms include abdominal pain, haematuria, and abdominal mass. Renal anastomosing haemangiomas are characterized by recurrent mutations in GNAQ and GNA14 genes. The prognosis of anastomosing haemangioma is excellent.

Primary renal angiosarcomas are malignant tumours showing endothelial differentiation. To date, 76 cases have been described in the literature. Primary renal angiosarcomas are frequently symptomatic. The clinical features of renal angiosarcomas are similar to those of renal anastomosing haemangiomas, including abdominal pain, haematuria, and abdominal mass. Angiogenesis-related genes and vascular-specific receptor tyrosine kinases such as KDR, TIE1, SNRK, TEK, and FLT1 are upregulated in angiosarcomas. Primary renal angiosarcomas are highly aggressive neoplasms with a poor prognosis despite surgical treatment, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or targeted therapy.

Keywords: Kidney; Renal tumours; Angiosarcoma; Haemangioma; Anastomosing haemangioma of the kidney; Vascular tumours

Core Tip: Primary vascular tumours of the kidney are extremely rare. This article summarizes the clinical and pathological features of primary renal angiosarcoma and anastomosing haemangioma of the kidney.