Successful interferon-alpha therapy of renal cell carcinoma with lung metastasis: a case report

A 67-year-old man was admitted with a chief complaint of dyspnea. Computed tomography (CT) revealed a left renal tumor, 12 cm in diameter, with tumor thrombus in the left renal vein, multiple lung metastases, right pleural effusion, and para-aortic lymph node metastases. Because of poor condition in respiratory status, nephrectomy was considered to be impossible and the patient was administered 6×10? IU of interferon-alpha daily. Then, 6×10? IU was also administered three times a week. At 14 months after interferon-alpha therapy, CT scan showed complete remission of lung, pleura metastases and right pleural effusion, and the left renal tumor was markedly reduced in size. Because of improvement of general condition, nephrectomy of the left kidney was performed. Twenty-seven months after the start of interferon-alpha therapy, the patient is alive without evidence of disease.     

Complete response of a large brain metastasis of renal cell cancer to interferon-alpha: case report

BACKGROUND: Interferon-alpha (IFNalpha) is a drug widely used in the treatment of metastatic renal cell cancers, especially lung lesions. Successful treatment using IFNalpha for histologically proven brain metastasis has not been reported. CASE REPORT: A large pineal tumor was found in a 51-year-old man with renal cell cancer in the left kidney. The histological diagnosis of biopsied specimens was a brain metastasis from renal cell cancer. The patient was treated with intramuscular injections of IFNalpha. The brain metastasis gradually decreased in size and disappeared completely 6 months after the initial injection of IFNalpha. The IFNalpha therapy was continued for 9 months. Fifteen months later, no recurrence was evident on brain magnetic resonance imaging. CONCLUSION: This is an extremely rare case in which the long-term use of IFNalpha induced a complete response of a brain metastasis from renal cell cancer.     

A case of lung and lymphnode metastasis treated with carbon ion radiotherapy after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma

We report a case of lung and lymph node metastasis treated with carbon ion radiotherapy after radical nephrectomy five years earlier. The patient was a 70-year-old woman. She was diagnosed with lung and neck lymph node metastasis by chest computed tomography four years after surgery. The metastatic mass increased gradually despite interferon-alpha and interleukin-2 treatment. Carbon ion radiotherapy was applied to the metastatic mass, and it has not increased in size to date. Carbon ion radiotherapy is thus regarded as an effective treatment for metastatic renal cell carcinoma masses, and it can be an important option for treatment of renal cell carcinoma.     

Urothelial carcinoma in a remnant ureter after a radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: A case report

Urothelial carcinoma of a ureteral stump after a radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma is rare. We present the case of a 76-year-old man with painless gross hematuria. The patient had undergone a right nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma 30 months previously. Cystoscopy showed a blood clot in the right ureteral orifice, and ureteroscopy revealed a papillary mass in the right ureter. The patient underwent a right ureterectomy and bladder cuff resection. The pathology examination showed a high-grade urothelial carcinoma. However, a superficial bladder tumor was discovered postoperatively, and a transurethral resection of the bladder tumor was performed. At 8 months postoperatively, the patient was alive with no evidence of recurrence. A ureteral stump evaluation must be performed when painless hematuria is noted in patients after a nephrectomy.     

Solitary psoas muscle metastasis after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma

Skeletal muscle is a very rare location for the metastasis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and only one case of solitary metastasis to the psoas muscle has been reported. We present a 63-year-old male patient with late recurrence (14 years) after left side radical nephrectomy for RCC. He first visited Chikushi Hospital, Fukuoka University, Japan in January 2000 for a postoperative follow-up because he had shifted residence to the area. Follow-up was by abdominal computed tomography (CT) and chest X-ray. In December 2001, a CT scan showed a 1.5 cm enhanced mass in the right psoas muscle without any other metastasis. The mass was resected that month and histological study showed RCC metastasis.     

Solitary brain metastasis from renal cell carcinoma 14 years after nephrectomy: a case report

We report a case of solitary brain metastasis from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) 14 years after nephrectomy. A 46-year-old female had sudden onset of headaches, aphasia, gait disturbance and right hemiparesis. A brain CT revealed a cystic tumor in the left parietal area, which was surgically removed completely. Microscopic appearances of the brain tumor were similar to those of the primary RCC. Positive immunoreaction for epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) and keratin confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic RCC. This is the second case of solitary brain metastasis from RCC occurring more than 10 years after nephrectomy.     

Muscle and small intestinal metastasis of renal cell carcinoma markedly responsive to interferon-alpha therapy: a case report

Skeletal muscle and small intestine are rare sites of metastasis in renal cell carcinoma. Therefore very few reports of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) therapy exist for these types of metastasis. Here, a case of metastatic renal cell carcinoma to muscle and jejunum is reported. After IFN-alpha therapy for 9 weeks, muscle metastasis completely disappeared and intestinal lesions were markedly reduced. However, subsequent patient compliance for this therapy was poor, resulting in death after relapse of the RCC.     

Pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma 13 years after a nephrectomy: report of a case

The pancreas is an uncommon site of metastasis from renal cell carcinoma. We herein present the case of a 59-year-old woman in whom pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma, found 13 years after undergoing a nephrectomy, was successfully resected and who has since showed no evidence of recurrence or metastasis. The efficacy of performing a pancreatectomy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma is also presented. We recommend careful long-term follow-up in patients with a history of renal cell carcinoma. Imaging modalities should be used during the routine follow-up to detect any asymptomatic metastases at an early stage.     

Solitary brain metastasis from renal cell carcinoma 15 years after nephrectomy: case report

A 77-year-old man presented with a metastatic brain tumor 15 years after nephrectomy for a renal cell carcinoma. Neurological examination showed recent memory disturbance and slight right hemiparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a round well-demarcated mass extending from the left thalamus to the left trigone of the lateral ventricle. Preoperative angiography showed tumor staining. Surgery was performed by opening the inferior temporal sulcus. Only biopsy could be performed because of extensive bleeding from the tumor. Histological examination identified metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Gamma knife surgery was performed which resulted in resolution of his hemiparesis. Metastatic renal cell carcinoma should be considered even if nephrectomy was performed 10 or more years before presentation.     

Gastric metastasis from renal cell carcinoma fourteen years after radical nephrectomy

We report one case of solitary gastric metastasis from renal cell carcinoma following radical excision of the primary tumour 14 years previously. During evaluation for a severe anaemia with melaena, a patient underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy that evidenced the presence of a small polypoid lesion in the body of the stomach. Endoscopic biopsy revealed renal cell carcinoma. There was no evidence of further metastatic disease. A subtotal gastric resection with Roux-en-Y gastrojejunal reconstruction was performed. After 6 months follow-up, the patient was disease-free. This case confirms the potential of renal cell carcinoma for late and solitary metastasis with circumscribed local invasiveness and suggests that endoscopic resection may be feasible.     

Pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma 25 years after radical nephrectomy

We report a case of pancreatic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma detected 25 years after radical nephrectomy. A 74-year-old man, who had undergone radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma at age 49, was found by computed tomography to have a strongly enhanced mass on the pancreatic head. The patient underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy and the pathological diagnosis was metastatic renal cell carcinoma. This was evidently a slow growing tumor because the metastatic pancreas tumor was well demarcated and the metastasis was found 25 years after the primary operation. Aggressive surgical treatment of isolated metastatic lesions offers a chance of long-term survival. Patients with a history of RCC should undergo a long-term follow-up to detect and evaluate metastasis to pancreas as well as other organs.     

Solitary colon metastasis from renal cell carcinoma nine years after nephrectomy: A case report

IntroductionRenal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common renal malignancy in adults. Metastatic disease is relatively common at presentation and frequently involves the lung, bone, brain, liver and adrenal glands. After curative resection, there is a 30–40% risk of recurrence, and a 10% risk of developing metastatic disease after 5 years. The gastrointestinal tract, particularly the colon, represents a very uncommon site of late metastatic disease.Presentation of CaseWe present a case of a 67 year-old-male who underwent a left radical nephrectomy for RCC 9 years before presenting with a metastatic large bowel obstruction. He was later found to have a near-completely obstructing mass in the rectosigmoid colon and underwent a sigmoidectomy with anterior resection of the upper rectum. Histopathology confirmed metastatic RCC confined to the colonic wall with negative microscopic margins.DiscussionThe tendency of RCC to metastasize to unusual sites such as the pancreas or thyroid gland has been widely reported. However, cases of colon metastasis from RCC are extremely rare. Despite the absence of randomized prospective data, widespread consensus supports the surgical treatment of solitary and oligometastatic disease in light of the poor patient outcomes in non-surgically treated disease (Milovic et al., 2013) [3]. Multiple groups have reported favorable outcomes for surgically resected solitary metastatic disease with long disease-free intervals and good performance status.ConclusionThe colon is a potential, though uncommon, site for solitary metastasis from RCC. The clinical presentation is frequently several years after initial curative resection. Oncologic resection with negative margins may result in long-term survival in patients with isolated metastatic disease.     

Pancreatic and duodenal metastases from renal cell carcinoma 13 years after radical nephrectomy: a case report

A 52-year-old male was admitted to our hospital complaining of orthostatic vertigo, fatigue and weight loss, who underwent right total nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma(RCC) with curative operation 13 years ago (in 1992). Endoscopic examination revealed a submucosal tumor with erosion in the duodenum. The diagnosis made from the biopsy specimens was metastatic RCC in the duodenum. Abdominal CT scan revealed that his metastasis has spread to the pancreas. Five million units of interferon a was administered intramuscularly three times a week for 1 month. He received blood transfusions and palliative care. He died 5 months later because of disease progression. Metastases of RCC have been often reported in the lungs, the liver, and the bones, but rarely in the gastrointestinal tract. This is a very rare case of metastatic RCC in the duodenum, which was diagnosed 13 years after curative right nephrectomy. Since late recurrence is characteristic of renal cell carcinoma, careful long-term follow-up is needed. To our knowledge, this is the 19th case of duodenal metastasis from RCC reported in the literature.     

Skeletal muscle metastasis from a conventional renal cell carcinoma,two years after nephrectomy: a case report

In this paper, we describe a case of skeletal muscle metastasis from a conventional (clear cell) renal cell carcinoma, two years after nephrectomy. Our first clinical tentative diagnosis was soft tissue tumour, showing the mimicking capacity of renal cell carcinoma. A review of literature shows that skeletal muscle metastases from renal cell carcinoma are extremely rare: only 16 cases have been described. In 5/16, the muscle mass was the initial manifestation of the renal tumour. In the other 11/16, the muscle masses were metachronous (10 months-16 years). We conclude that, when confronted with a patient with a muscle mass and a history of renal cell carcinoma, one should always keep in mind the possibility of a (late) renal cell carcinoma metastasis.     

Spontaneous regression of lung metastasis of renal cell carcinoma: a case report

A chest X-ray tomography revealed a metastatic shadow in the left lung of a 56-year-old man with pathologically established right renal cell carcinoma. The shadow was found to be regressed to a fibrous lesion on the 18th day after radical nephrectomy. Because of non-A, non-B, hepatitis, the anticancer treatment with alpha-interferon and 1-(2-tetrahydrofuryl-5-fluorouracil) was started 40 days after the nephrectomy. At that time, only a fibrous lesion was noted at the site of lung metastatic shadow. At present, the patient remains free of disease for 21 months after nephrectomy.     

Case report: port-site metastasis after laparoscopic radical nephrectomy for renal-cell carcinoma

A 65-year-old man with a 5.5 x 3.2-cm stage T(2)N(0)M(0) grade III renal-cell carcinoma suffered a port-site metastasis 8 months after laparoscopic radical nephrectomy with specimen removal in an organ-retrieval bag. This case underlines the need to be conversant with, and care to avoid, risk factors for this complication.     

Prolonged complete remission of multiple organ metastases after radical nephrectomy induced by interferon-alpha therapy: a case report

We experienced a case of advanced renal carcinoma that showed complete remission to interferon-alpha therapy. A 76-year-old male underwent radical nephrectomy for left renal cell carcinoma (pT3b pN0 M0, stage III). Two and a half months later, chest X-ray, computed tomographic (CT) scan and ultrasonography revealed multiple lung metastases and a hepatic metastasis simultaneously. We started the intramuscular administration of natural interferon-alpha (OIF, 5 MIU) combined with cimetidine everyday. It caused leukopenia, a possible side-effect of interferon-alpha. We reduced the dose to three times a week. The lung metastases and hepatic metastases disappeared after 5 and 12 months, respectively. After we reduced the dose to once a week, there was no evidence of disease for 21 months.     

Solitary metastasis of renal cell carcinoma to the parotid gland 10 years after radical nephrectomy

Abstract Renal cell carcinoma metastasis to the parotid gland after tumor nephrectomy is extremely rare. We report a case of solitary parotid metastasis from clear cell renal cell carcinoma in a 59‐year‐old woman, who presented 10 years after primary treatment. To our knowledge this is the first case in the published literature presenting with solitary parotid metastasis after such a long time. Superficial parotidectomy with preservation of the facial nerve was performed. One year after, the patient developed contralateral multiple kidney tumors and underwent left radical nephrectomy. She is currently on a dialysis program and no additional metastasis has been observed for 18 months.     

A case report of skeletal muscle metastasis of renal cell carcinoma effectively treated with interferon-alpha

The skeletal muscle is a very rare site of metastasis in renal cell carcinoma. We report the third case of skeletal muscle metastasis of renal cell carcinoma effectively treated with interferon-alpha. The patient was a 74-year-old woman who had undergone radical nephrectomy on the left side for renal cell carcinoma on April 23, 1990, and had been observed as an outpatient. In June 1997, she was admitted with a diagnosis of metastasis in the left great adductor muscle and right sixth rib, as well as multiple lung metastasis. The metastatic lesion in the great adductor muscle decreased in size by more than 50% following concomitant intramuscular administration of natural interferon-alpha (nIFN-alpha). In the other metastatic lesions, nIFN-alpha-sensitive and resistant metastatic foci were intermingled. Thus, the primary focus in the present study was presumably composed of several clones with different sensitivities to nIFN-alpha.     

Advanced sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma effectively treated with sunitinib: report of a case

We report a case of advanced sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (RCC) effectively treated with sunitinib. A 77-year-old female who had gross hematuria and left lower abdominal pain was found to have a left renal tumor by computed tomography (CT) and was referred to our hospital. CT revealed a poorly enhanced mass in the left kidney and an enlarged paraaortic lymph node. The patient underwent laparoscopic left nephrectomy, and the tumor was histologically diagnosed as a sarcomatoid RCC. Sunitinib was administered to treat lymph node metastasis, postoperatively, and a partial response was observed after 4 courses. Sunitinib administration has been continued without tumor re-growth.