Metastatic renal cell carcinoma of the gallbladder

Abstract

A 73-year-old man presented for further evaluation of a gallbladder polyp, 5 years after left radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Computed tomography revealed a 2-cm enhancing pedunculated tumour within the gallbladder. Open simple cholecystectomy was performed and the tumour was histologically confirmed as a metastasis of the RCC to the gallbladder. The patient is alive and disease-free, 2 years after cholecystectomy. Of the reported 23 patients with metastatic RCC of the gallbladder, nine patients were reported to be cancer-free with the longest follow-up interval of 6 years after cholecystectomy. Although metastasis of RCC is a rare differential diagnosis of gallbladder tumours, simple cholecystectomy may offer a chance of long-term survival for patients with RCC.