Bilateral transitional cell carcinoma in combination with bilateral renal cell carcinoma

Introduction: We report the first known case of bilateral urothelial carcinoma in combination with a bilateral renal cell carcinoma in a patient with polycystic kidney disease. Case report: Unilateral nephrectomy was performed due to a tumor of the renal pelvis. The pathologic specimen revealed an occult renal cell carcinoma. Five months later the other kidney was removed because of another tumor of the renal pelvis. Once again the pathologic specimen showed a renal cell carcinoma. Conclusions: The coincident occurrence of transitional cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis and renal cell carcinoma is rare. More often, bilateral renal cell carcinomas can be found. In these cases, nephron-sparing techniques are performed with increasing frequency. Renal cell carcinomas - both bilateral and moltifocal - frequently occur in adult polycystic kidney disease, tuberous sclerosis and von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, whereas this is not the case with urothelial carcinoma.