The treatment of renal cell carcinoma with solitary metastasis

Between 1950 and 1970, 44 patients (2.5 per cent) with renal cell carcinoma and a solitary metastatic lesion were treated at our clinic. Generally, treatment was aggressive, involving nephrectomy and excision of the metastatic lesion when possible. Patients presenting with the primary and metastatic lesion at the same time did not do as well as patients who presented with metastasis after nephrectomy. An operation for the metastatic lesion seemed to offer the best results in patients who presented with the solitary metastatic lesion after nephrectomy. The prognosis was uniformly poor in patients presenting with the primary and secondary lesion together, regardless of the mode of therapy. However, an operation seemed to be better marginally and did produce an occasional long-term survival.