Collecting duct carcinoma of the kidney associated with the sickle cell trait

Collecting duct carcinoma of the kidney is a rare neoplasm that arises from the medullary collecting ducts. It has an aggressive clinical course and p atients usually present with metastatic disease. Treatment approaches apart from surgery have been unrewarding. Renal medullary carcinoma is also an a ggressive tumour which occurs predominantly in young, black, male patients with sickle cell trait. We describe a case of collecting duct carcinoma in a 61-year-old black female who exhibited the sickle cell trait. Histopathol ogy revealed a high-grade tubular carcinoma with marked desmoplasia, adjace nt dysplastic collecting ducts and positive immunohistochemical staining fo r high and low molecular weight cytokeratins and epithelial membrane antige n. The association of collecting duct carcinoma with sickle cell trait has not been previously reported. This case supports the postulate that collect ing duct carcinoma and renal medullary carcinoma may be part of the same sp ectrum of renal malignancies.