Long survival in an untreated solitary choroid plexus metastasis from renal cell carcinoma: case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Brain metastases from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are rare. Among them, the metastases localized only in the choroid plexus are exceptional and only six cases are reported in the literature. Here we report on a patient with a single choroid plexus metastasis from RCC which presented an unusual biological behaviour. For several years, such metastasis was interpreted as a benign intraventricular tumor and was not treated. Four years after the initial neuroradiological evidence, because of the appearance of symptoms, the brain metastasis was excised. We think that this unusual biological behaviour of the tumor determined the late inset of the neurological symptoms, despite the location at the choroid plexus that usually leads to an early obstructive hydrocephalus. To our knowledge, this 46 months survival is the longest survival of a patient affected by a single choroid plexus metastasis from RCC.