Contralateral adrenal metastasis from renal cell carcinoma with tumor thrombus in the adrenal vein: a case report

[Metastatic lesions of the adrenal glands. The experience of Endocrinology Research Center.]

Differentiation between benign, primary and secondary malignant tumors is a critical problem in the clinical treatment of adrenal tumors, especially in patients with isolated adrenal lesions. In most cases, the correct diagnosis can be established microscopically with standard staining with hematoxylin and eosin. However, there are cases when it is almost impossible to distinguish metastasis from primary adrenal cancer, so an accurate diagnosis requires an immunohistochemical examination.This article presents five unique observations of secondary adrenal tumors that were diagnosed by us in the current surgical material: metastasis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, follicular variant of papillary thyroid cancer, metastasis of keratinizing squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix, lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma of the bladder, as well as malignant mesothelioma. Taking into account the extreme rarity of the presented observations, we present an analysis of the literature data.

Immune checkpoint receptor VISTA on immune cells is associated with expression of T-cell exhaustion marker TOX and worse prognosis in renal cell carcinoma with venous tumor thrombus

PURPOSE

The study aimed to determine the expression of VISTA and TOX within venous tumor thrombus and primary clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) and to assess their prognostic value.

METHODS

The study enrolled 82 patients with ccRCC and coexisting venous tumor thrombus treated radically from 2012 to 2019 in two tertiary centers. Tissue microarrays were prepared and stained with respective antibodies. The expression of markers was assessed separately on tumor cells (TCs) and/or tumor-associated immune cells (TAICs).

RESULTS

TOX expression was positively correlated with the percentage of VISTA-positive TAICs in venous thrombus (p = 0.011), but not in the primary tumor (p = 0.674). High TOX expression was associated with a higher percentage of PD-L1-positive TAICs in both compartments (p = 0.001, p = 0.011, respectively). Positive expression of VISTA on TAICs was associated with PD-L1 expression on TCs (p = 0.005) and TAICs (p = 0.004) in the primary tumor, and only with PD-L1 on TAICs in thrombus (p = 0.006). The presence of VISTA-positive TAICs in venous thrombus was significantly more common in females (p = 0.034), and positively correlated with metastases (p = 0.028), and tumor necrosis (p = 0.013). The cases with VISTA-positive TAICs in venous tumor thrombi had significantly shorter OS than VISTA-negative cases (p = 0.041).

CONCLUSION

For the first time, we demonstrated the expression of VISTA- and TOX-positive TAICs in the venous tumor thrombus. We found the association between immune checkpoint receptors and T cell exhaustion markers in both tumor mass and venous thrombus. Finally, we demonstrated that abundance of VISTA-positive TAICs in venous tumor thrombus correlates with worse outcomes in ccRCC.

Solitary contralateral adrenal metastasis of renal cell carcinoma 15 years following radical nephrectomy: A case report and review of literature

INTRODUCTION

Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is known to metastasize to almost every organ. A well-recognized phenomenon in RCC is late metastatic recurrence after nephrectomy which is arbitrarily defined as more than 10 years. The incidence of solitary ipsilateral and contralateral adrenal metastasis is 3% and 0.7% respectively in patients who have underwent radical nephrectomy.

CASE REPORT

A57-year-old female presented with an incidental ultrasonic finding of a right adrenal mass 15 years after radical nephrectomy for left side renal cell carcinoma. Further evaluation with abdominal contrast enhanced CT scan revealed a right adrenal mass suggestive of metastatic lesion. The results of laboratory examinations showed the mass to be nonfunctional. Open right adrenalectomy was performed. She was discharged home on 4th postoperative day. Pathological examination revealed morphological and immunohistochemical findings in line with metastatic renal cell carcinoma of the left kidney. During the last 2 years she has being on regular follow up, neither local recurrence nor distant metastasis anywhere have been detected by whole body Positron Emission Tomography(PET) scan.

DISCUSSION

Late metastatic contralateral adrenal recurrence from RCC is very rare and to the best of our knowledge, 5 similar cases have been reported 10 years after radical nephrectomy. Early diagnosis of adrenal metastasis is challenging because they are usually silent both anatomically and functionally.

CONCLUSION

Solitary contralateral adrenal metastatic recurrence of RCC is extremely rare event. Surgical removal is a wise option in these cases that may improve survival.