Collecting duct carcinoma and endemic nephropathy – case reports and literature review

Abstract

Although collecting duct carcinoma is a subtype of renal cell carcinoma, several studies implicate association with urothelial carcinoma. The coexistence of collecting duct carcinoma and another renal neoplasm is rare. Endemic nephropathy is a renal disease causing chronic renal failure. It is highly associated with urothelial neoplasm and occurs in endemic villages in Bosnia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. Recent studies have confirmed the important role of exposure to aristolochic acid as an etiologic factor. We present three cases of collecting duct carcinoma with literature overview. In one case, we describe collecting duct carcinoma with metachronous urothelial carcinoma of the pyelon and urinary bladder in an endemic nephropathy patient. To our knowledge, this is the first case report describing this coexistence. Certain similarities between collecting duct carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma were found, e.g., higher incidence in female compared to male, higher mean age, and multifocal and multicentric occurrence of the tumor. Our observations support the hypothesis that collecting duct carcinoma and urothelial carcinoma could be connected.