Two cases of gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma and review of literature

BACKGROUND: Renal cell carcinoma accounts for 90 % of renal neoplasms and metastatic disease is common. One third of newly diagnosed cases will have synchronous metastases at diagnosis and further 25–50 % will develop metachronous disease. CASE PRESENTATION: This study presents two new cases of gallbladder metastasis from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from our institution and reviews the published literature. The final cohort included 52 evaluable patients. M/F ratio was 2:1 and median age was 62.5 years. Most patients were diagnosed incidentally after follow-up or staging imaging for RCC. Of the patients with available histology, all except one were clear cell type (n = 39) and 92 % were polypoid. Thirty-six patients demonstrated metachronous gallbladder metastasis with median disease-free interval (DFI) from nephrectomy of 4 years. The most frequent site of metastasis was the contralateral kidney (46.7 %) followed by the pancreas and lung. The median disease-free interval (DFS) after cholecystectomy was 37 months. Three- and five-year OS rates were 74 and 62 %, respectively. Age younger than 45 years (p = 0.008) and DFI <24 months (p = 0.049) were associated with decreased OS. CONCLUSIONS: RCC metastasis to the gallbladder is associated with an unusual pattern of concomitant metastasis. Symptoms are not common. Simple cholecystectomy is associated with increased OS and nil local or port site recurrence. Young age and short DFI are associated with decreased OS. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12957-016-0843-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.