Intrabronchial metastases from renal carcinoma with recurrent tumour expectoration

Three patients are described who presented to their doctors with a history of coughing up pieces of tissue. These took the form of large bronchial casts and consisted of intrabronchial deposits of clear cell carcinoma. In one patient the pulmonary symptoms preceded the finding of a primary renal carcinoma by four years. The other two patients had undergone nephrectomy for renal carcinoma 13 and four years previously. Expectoration of intrabronchial tumour should alert the physician to the possibility of metastasis from clear cell carcinoma of the kidney.