Idenyi Oluchi, Anil Vishwanath, Moravineni Rao, Shahi Sunil, Kothur Nageshwar, Ugbajah Winston, Assaf Daniel, Anya Onyekachi, Tioum Getnet
Internal Medicine, Wellstar Spalding Regional Hospital, Griffin, USA.
Medical Oncology and Hematology, Wellstar Spalding Regional Hospital, Griffin, USA.
Cureus. 2025 May 31;17(5):e85143. doi: 10.7759/cureus.85143. eCollection 2025 May.
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) can recur or metastasize years after nephrectomy. While it is uncommon for RCC to metastasize to the adrenal glands, bilateral involvement is very rare and often indicates a more aggressive form of the disease with a poorer prognosis. Therefore, long-term surveillance following nephrectomy is crucial and may improve patients' outcomes. Here, we present a case of a 63-year-old Caucasian male with a past medical history of hypertension, who underwent a robot-assisted right partial nephrectomy and was subsequently lost to follow-up. The pathology report revealed an unclassified renal cell carcinoma, stage 1 (PT1aN0M0). Post-operative imaging two months later showed no evidence of recurrence or metastasis. Despite initial successful management of the primary tumor, three years post-nephrectomy, the patient developed metastatic bilateral adrenal masses, distant metastasis, and rapid disease progression. We report this case to highlight the late metastatic potential of RCC, the rarity of bilateral adrenal involvement, and its associated poor prognosis, while underscoring the importance of post-surgical surveillance following resection.
肾细胞癌(RCC)可在肾切除术后数年复发或转移。虽然RCC转移至肾上腺并不常见,但双侧受累非常罕见,且往往提示疾病更具侵袭性,预后较差。因此,肾切除术后的长期监测至关重要,可能会改善患者的预后。在此,我们报告一例63岁的白种男性病例,其既往有高血压病史,接受了机器人辅助右半肾切除术,随后失访。病理报告显示为未分类肾细胞癌,1期(PT1aN0M0)。术后两个月的影像学检查未发现复发或转移迹象。尽管原发肿瘤最初得到了成功治疗,但肾切除术后三年,患者出现双侧肾上腺转移瘤、远处转移及疾病快速进展。我们报告此病例以强调RCC的晚期转移潜能、双侧肾上腺受累的罕见性及其相关的不良预后,同时强调切除术后手术监测的重要性。