Treatment of gastric metastases from renal cell carcinoma with endoscopic therapy

Gastric metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are rare with few cases described in the literature.

We report the history of a 77-year-old male patient who underwent a right radical nephrectomy because of RCC. Two years after the diagnosis, he presented with abdominal pain and evidence of upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a 3 cm, ulcerated, pedunculated polypoid mass in the stomach that was removed with a diathermic snare. Histology with immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of metastatic RCC. Three months of follow-up revealed no further episode of rebleeding.

We identified (using the PubMed database) 44 cases of gastric metastasis of RCC in the literature; the majority were male patients, with mean age at presentation of 67.2 years and average time from nephrectomy to presentation of gastric metastases of 6.9 years. Our results suggest that endoscopy may have an important role in the treatment of these patients for controlling the complications and/or improving mean survival time.

Gastric metastases of RCC are rare but should be considered even many years after diagnosis and treatment of RCC, particularly in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms.