Evaluation of: Powers MP, Alvarez K, Kim HJ, Monzon FA. Molecular classification of adult renal
epithelial neoplasms using
microRNA expression and virtual karyotyping. Diagn. Mol. Pathol. 20(2), 63-70 (2011). Novel reliable techniques for the exact classification of renal
epithelial neoplasms, especially in cases with morphological ambiguity, are of high importance for diagnosis and patient treatment. Evaluation of gene-expression alterations in various
malignancies by array screens and quantitative PCR is a well-known procedure. In this direction, the use of molecular methods, such as virtual karyotyping and
miRNA profiling, represents a rather novel approach. In particular, great promise for reliable and specific characterization of renal
tumor subtypes, such as
clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC), papillary RCC, chromophobe RCC and
oncocytoma, is offered - according to the recently presented work by Powers et al. - by a
miRNA-profiling method. This technique might be used in the form of a clinically applicable
biomarker diagnostic tool. In addition, researchers suggest that
miRNAs might have a functional role and might therefore contribute to the progress towards personalized
cancer therapy. In this article, a broader overview of recent approaches to classify renal
epithelial neoplasms is presented, with a focus on promising
miRNA gene-expression profiling. The latter needs further elaboration and testing with a larger sample number.