[Multiple primary neoplasia in a urologic setting. Clinical review and tentative etiopathogenetic profile]

The authors present the results of a retrospective study aimed at identifying the most common neoplastic associations diagnosed in urology. Between 1991-94 430 patients with neoplasia of the urogenital tract were diagnosed and studied: 50 (11.6%) showed a second primary neoplasia (48 cases dual, 2 cases triple). The long-term results show that the most frequent neoplastic associations were, in order of greatest incidence, those involving the gastrointestinal, respiratory and hemolymphatic regions. In 30 patients the second neoplasia became manifest within 5 years of the first, whereas neoplasias of the uterus and adnexa or breast have a late onset. An oncological familial pattern was observed in 14 cases, but it was not easy to analyse the clinical significance. The genetic interpretation of each individual neoplastic association is still complex and difficult to evaluate. Biomolecular research may in the future be able to provide some of the vital data for a correct etiopathogenetic classification.