A case of metachronous gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

Herein, we report a case of gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma (RCC). An 80-year-old man was referred to our department for examination and treatment of gallbladder tumor 17 years after right nephrectomy for RCC. He had also undergone lung segmentectomy one year prior owing to lung metastasis due to RCC. At the outpatient clinic after surgery, imaging studies detected a growing hypervascular lesion in the gallbladder. US revealed a hypervascular polypoid tumor with a diameter of 18mm in the body of the gallbladder. CT revealed a nodular lesion with a diameter of 14mm.

He was diagnosed with gallbladder tumor, and laparoscopic cholecystectomy was performed. The histopathological diagnosis was gallbladder metastasis of RCC (clear cell type). The patient has been event-free for 8 months post-operatively without any sign of recurrence. Although gallbladder metastasis from RCC is a rare phenomenon, it may be suspected if a patient with a history of RCC has gallbladder tumor. Surgery must be considered if radical excision is expected to be achievable.