Chemotherapy influencing the course of nephrotic syndrome in colonic carcinoma

A 50-year-old man presented with the Nephrotic Syndrome (NS). Subsequent investigations showed this to be due to a membranous glomerulonephritis. He was found to have a primary colonic carcinoma with extensive intra-abdominal spread. He was treated with 5-fluorouracil (5FU) with excellent resolution of the NS for a period of 6 months. The disease eventually progressed and the NS recurred on cessation of chemotherapy. This is the first report of such a response to 5FU of which we are aware and emphasizes the usefulness of palliative chemotherapy even in 'resistant' solid tumors when they are complicated by the NS.