Kidney-specific cadherin, also known as Cadherin-16, is a member of the calcium dependent family of adhesion molecules that play important roles during embryonic development, maintenance of tissue architecture and growth control during tumorigenesis. In the kidney, Ksp-cadherin expression is uniquely localized predominantly in the distal portion of the nephron.

There are four major subtypes of renal neoplasms; clear cell and papillary renal cell carcinoma are thought to be of proximal tubular origin, while oncocytoma and chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are derived from cells of the distal nephron. Studies have shown high sensitivity and specificity of Ksp-cadherin to chromophobe RCC (86-100%) and oncocytoma (76-95%). Conversely, low reactivity was observed with clear cell RCC (14-30%) and papillary RCC (0-13%), supporting the use of Ksp-cadherin as a marker for the distal portion of the nephron, and for its use as an adjunct for the diagnosis of chromophobe RCC and oncocytoma.