Spontaneous Disappearance Of Pulmonary Metastases Following Nephrectomy For Hypernephroma
American Journal of Surgery 96: Nov 1958; 703-704
View Original Source →Abstract
A 65-year-old man, hospitalized because of general weakness and striking weight loss, was found by roentgenography to have pulmonary lesions suggesting metastases of a tumor. Intravenous pyelography gave evidence of a malignant tumor of the left kidney. A nephrectomy was performed, and the lesion proved to be a clear-cell serous papillary cystic adenocarcinoma. The condition of the patient remained poor for about three months, and the pulmonary lesions increased in size and number. The patient then improved, and at the time of discharge from the hospital the pulmonary lesions were no longer visible. Similar observations have been made in the past. They suggest the hypothesis that these tumors have distinctive properties as to origin and biological activity.
Case Details
Personal Characteristics
Male, 37 years old, clergyman, well-developed white man
Clinical Characteristics
Hematuria, large mass in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, multiple metastatic nodular deposits in both lung fields, headaches, dizziness, bilateral papilledema
Remission Characteristics
Spontaneous disappearance of pulmonary metastases over a period of eight months, no recurrent pulmonary metastases in three years
Treatment & Mechanisms
Proposed Remission Mechanisms
Not discussed
Clinical Treatment
Nephrectomy, craniotomy
Additional Notes
The patient was admitted to St. Peters Hospital. The kidney was replaced by a nodular growth. Microscopic sections revealed the neoplasm to be a clear-cell carcinoma. The patient remained well until October 30, 1956, at which time he was again admitted to St. Peters Hospital complaining of headaches of approximately six weeks duration. The patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery and has remained asymptomatic for approximately seventeen months.