Simultaneous pulmonary and renal malignancy

Simultaneous primary malignancy of the lung and kidney has been rarely recognized during life. Three patients with synchronous primary pulmonary and renal cancer are described. The pulmonary tumors were asymptomatic and were discovered on plain chest roentgenography. The renal tumors, also asymptomatic, were incidentally discovered on CT, performed for staging. Although one patient was treated with interleukin-2 for a presumed solitary pulmonary metastasis from renal carcinoma, in all three patients, both the kidney and lung tumors were eventually removed either concurrently or sequentially. Prior autopsy case series are reviewed. In the elderly, synchronous asymptomatic pulmonary and renal malignancy is not surprising, and it should be approached as a distinct clinical problem. With the use of chest roentgenography for screening high risk populations and CT for staging, simultaneous primary pulmonary and renal malignancy will probably be recognized increasingly.