Stauffer syndrome: is the mystery solved?

Stauffer syndrome is a rare paraneoplastic syndrome of unknown pathophysiol ogy characterized by intrahepatic cholestasis due to a tumor generally loca ted in a kidney. A typical case is reported in a 53-year-old man with labor atory evidence of inflammation and cholestasis but no jaundice. There was a renal cell carcinoma with no liver metastases. Serum levels of interleukin -6 were elevated, suggesting that this cytokine may be involved in the path ogenesis of Stauffer syndrome.