Late development of renal carcinoma in allograft kidney

The Cincinnati Transplant Tumor Registry recorded 169 cases of renal carcinoma developing in transplant recipients. The great majority of these cases were of primary renal cell carcinoma developing in the recipient native kidneys. Renal carcinoma developing de novo in the renal allograft occurred 17 times, with a maximal interval to clinical development of 85 months after transplantation. The development of multicentric renal cell carcinoma in an allograft 156 months after transplantation is described. The 24-year-old white male recipient with Alport's syndrome received a cadaver renal allograft from a healthy 27-year-old black man who had died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1977. At 13 years after transplantation the recipient had upper abdominal pain. Ultrasound revealed 2 incidental renal masses and a renal cyst in the allograft. Partial nephrectomy confirmed the presence of multicentric renal carcinoma. The graft was left in situ and immunosuppression was maintained. The recipient continued to do well with no evidence of disease 1 year postoperatively. Deoxyribonucleic acid banding demonstrated that the tumor and recipient blood were of different patterns.