Kun L, Nagy J, Schmelczer M, Trinn C, Burger T
2nd Dept. of Medicine, University Medical School, Pécs, Hungary.
Acta Morphol Hung. 1989;37(1-2):101-9.
The authors have studied the incidence of changes related to immune complex glomerulonephritis in postmortem kidney specimens from 23 patients with malignant tumours (18 solid tumours and 5 leukaemias), using light microscopy and immunofluorescence. As revealed by light microscopy, 4 kidneys had diffuse, 2 focal mesangial proliferative glomerulonephritis and 1 IgA glomerulonephritis. Granular deposition of immunoglobulin in the mesangium was observed in 5 kidneys, on 3 occasions together with C3. In only 2 patients were, in addition to glomerular damage, clinical symptoms observed. No CEA and alpha FP were found in the diseased kidneys. The results suggest that glomerular damage with no or only occasional clinical symptoms is not rare in patients with malignant tumours.