Renal cell carcinoma in cases of adult polycystic kidney disease: Changingdiagnostic and therapeutic implications

Renal cell carcinoma in adult polycystic kidney disease is of rare occurren ce and poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. We have treated three such patients in our department. One was male and two were females ranging in age from 20 to 60 years. All were diagnosed preoperatively with ultrason ography or contrast-enhanced CT. Radical nephrectomy was performed in all p atients. During the follow-up no patient had recurrence in the contralatera l kidney. One patient had local recurrence in the renal fossa and was treat ed with local radiotherapy and immunotherapy. In the past due to difficulty in diagnosis, invasive investigations like angiography were recommended an d prophylactic contralateral nephrectomy was often undertaken. With the ava ilability of reliable noninvasive investigations these patients can be diag nosed accurately and the contralateral kidney saved in most cases. Copyrigh t (C) 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.