Nephrogenic adenoma is a rare benign lesion of the urinary tract. Owing to its strong association with a history of urinary tract irritation, nephrogenic adenoma was initially thought to originate from urothelial metaplasia; however, no solid proof of this association has been found. More recent investigation has pointed to a renal tubular cause. In addition to its uncertain origin, there can be diagnostic difficulty in distinguishing nephrogenic adenoma from prostatic carcinoma, particularly when dealing with lesions from the prostatic urethra.
To elucidate a possible histogenic relationship between nephrogenic adenoma and renal tubules, and also to evaluate the role of immunohistochemistry in the diagnostic distinction between nephrogenic adenoma and prostate carcinoma.
Immunohistochemical studies were performed for P504S, prostate-specific antigen, CD10, p63, and epithelial membrane antigen on 9 cases of nephrogenic adenoma, 10 cases of normal renal parenchyma, and 10 cases of prostatic tissue, both benign and malignant.
Nephrogenic adenoma shares the same immunohistochemical profile as distal renal tubules: both are positive for P504S and epithelial membrane antigen and negative for p63, CD10, and prostate-specific antigen. Prostatic adenocarcinoma tissue was positive for P504S and prostate-specific antigen, and normal prostatic gland tissue was positive for prostate-specific antigen and negative for P504S; p63-stained basal cells in normal prostatic gland tissue but did not react with prostatic adenocarcinoma tissue. The CD10 inconsistently stained normal and neoplastic prostatic gland tissue. Epithelial membrane antigen stain was negative in prostatic carcinoma, with rare occasional reactivity in normal prostatic glands.
These findings provide supporting evidence that nephrogenic adenoma is derived from distal renal tubules. Our results also demonstrated that the combination of P504S and prostate-specific antigen with epithelial membrane antigen is a valuable tool in distinguishing prostatic carcinoma from nephrogenic adenoma.