Korean J Intern Med.  2013 May;28(3):347-351. 10.3904/kjim.2013.28.3.347.

Clinical characteristics and outcomes in renal transplant recipients with renal cell carcinoma in the native kidney

• Sun IO
• Ko YM
• Kim EY
• Park KS
• Jung HS
• Ko SH
• Chung BH
• Choi BS
• Park CW
• Kim YS
• Yang CW

• KMID: 1776457
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3904/kjim.2013.28.3.347

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS
We investigated the incidence and clinical characteristics of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in the native kidney of renal transplant recipients.
METHODS
Between 1991 and 2010, 1,425 patients underwent kidney transplantation at our institution. We retrospectively evaluated the clinical features and outcomes in renal transplant patients with RCC in the native kidney after renal transplantation.
RESULTS
The patients included three males and two females with a mean age of 63 years (range, 52 to 74). The incidence of RCC was 0.35%. The median interval between renal transplantation and RCC occurrence was 16.2 years (range, 9 to 20). All of our patients with RCC had developed renal cysts either before (n = 3) or after (n = 2) renal transplantation. The mean duration of dialysis was 12 months (range, 2 to 39). Of the five patients, four underwent dialysis treatment for less than 8 months. All the RCCs were low grade at the time of diagnosis. Four patients underwent radical nephrectomy, and one patient refused the operation. The four patients who underwent radical nephrectomy showed no evidence of local recurrence or distant metastasis during the median follow-up of 2.9 years. However, the patient who did not undergo surgery developed spinal metastasis from the RCC 6 years later.
CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests that the follow-up period is an important factor for the development of RCC in renal transplant recipients, and more vigorous screening with a longer follow-up period is required in renal transplant recipients.

Keyword

Kidney transplantation; Nephrectomy; Carcinoma, renal cell

MeSH Terms

Aged
Carcinoma, Renal Cell/*epidemiology
Female
Humans
Incidence
Kidney Neoplasms/*epidemiology
*Kidney Transplantation
Male
Middle Aged
Postoperative Complications/*epidemiology
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Retrospective Studies