Cutaneous metastases in renal cell carcinoma

Cutaneous metastasis from renal cell carcinoma is believed to be rare. We p resent our experience with 10 (3.3%) cases seen in the last 12 years among 306 cases of renal adenocarcinoma treated at our center. There were 9 males and 1 female. Age ranged from 30 to 65 years (average 45 years). 5 patient s had skin metastases at the time of presentation (stage IV). In one of the m the skin nodule, rather than urologic symptoms, was the presenting compla int. 5 patients presented with skin metastasis during follow-up after nephr ectomy. The average time to skin metastasis was 51 months for patients in s tage I and 13 months in stage IIIb. The scalp was the most common site of m etastasis followed by chest and abdomen. 90% of patients had secondaries in at least one other site, most commonly in lungs (4 cases) and bones (5 cas es). 4 patients were treated with interferon-alpha 6 MIU, subcutaneously, t hree times a week for varying periods from 3 to 4 months but there was no r esponse. In conclusion, cutaneous secondaries from RCC, though uncommon, ar e not very rare. A few patients may present with a skin mass before detecti on of the renal tumor. Patients with low-stage disease at presentation may also develop cutaneous secondaries, therefore a prolonged follow-up is requ ired. The commonest site for cutaneous metastasis from RCC is the scalp and face. Most patients had at least one other site of systemic metastasis, he nce they were not candidates for curative therapy. Interferon therapy was n ot helpful. Mean survival after detection of cutaneous metastasis was 7 mon ths. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.