Angiography In Spontaneously Healed Hypernephromas

Abstract

It is well documented that clear-cell carcinomas of the kidney (hypernephromas) regress under certain circumstances. Bartley and Hultquist clearly illustrated this when they reviewed the literature and reported 26 of their own cases in 1950. It is also known that, in some instances, distant metastases of clear-cell carcinomas of the kidney have been known to regress or disappear. Most reported regressions have been pulmonary metastases where the diagnosis was presumptive and where microscopic study of the pulmonary lesion was not available. In most cases, the regression occurred after removal of the primary lesion. What factors govern this type of response? No one knows for sure, but since many of the regressions have followed removal of the primary tumor, there is some suggestion that it may represent a response on the part of the body after removal of the primary mass. This could be on an immunologic basis or could represent hormonal control. The true incidence of regression of hypernephroma is unknown, but it is likely that it is considerably greater than is reported.