ULCERATIVE-COLITIS COMPLICATED BY RENAL-CELL CARCINOMA - A SERIES OF 3 PATIENTS

Three patients are described in whom renal cell carcinoma was diagnose d between seven months and 14 years after the onset of ulcerative coli tis. All three had required treatment with corticosteroids and azathio prine, as well as maintenance therapy with 5-aminosalicylate derivativ es, for chronic active colitis. One patient had coexisting polymyalgia rheumatica; one had primary biliary cirrhosis. It is uncertain whethe r this association, which has not previously been described, has patho genetic importance or has arisen simply by chance. Genetic predisposit ion or the effect of drug treatment, particularly immunosuppression, m ay be pertinent to the co-occurrence of these diseases.