Renal cell carcinoma: complete response.

A 63-year-old male, ex-smoker since 2000 underwent left radical nephrectomy in June 2004 after being diagnosed with stage II, pT3bN0M0 clear cell carcinoma. In June 2006, a control CT showed a nodule in the superior lobe, on a peripheral location, and another nodule in the base of the right lung. The patient underwent atypical resections of both nodules, confirming the presence of metastatic disease. In August 2006 the patient started treatment with sunitinib (50 mg/day for 4 weeks, with 2 weeks of rest). A total of nine cycles were administered. Periodic monitoring showed good tolerance, only presenting grade 2 erythrodisesthesia and grade 2 thrombocytopenia. CT studies performed every three cycles showed no evidence of disease recurrence. The last cycle was administered in September 2007 and PET imaging confirmed the absence of recurrence. With the patients consent, treatment was interrupted and periodic radiological and clinical examinations were performed. The patient remained asymptomatic until March 2008 when a control CT revealed an objective progression of the disease at the left lung and mediastinum level. Treatment with sunitinib was restarted at the same doses, completing a total of three cycles, achieving a complete response. The patient is still under treatment.

Renal cell carcinoma: complete pathological response in a patient with gastric metastasis of renal cell carcinoma.

A 75-year-old-man, with a 2-month history of abdominal pain, underwent a standard diagnostic workup that included a CT scan that showed a large right renal mass and subcentimeter nodes in the right and left lung lobes. In December 2003, the patient underwent right nephrectomy with adrenalectomy and a diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (pT3N0M0 stage) was made. No further treatment was proposed and patient was followed up regularly. In October 2006, the annual gastrointestinal endoscopy showed asymptomatic multilobulated and polypoid masses in the gastric fundus and gastric body that corresponded to metastasis of the renal carcinoma that had been resected three years ago. Surgical treatment was refused and oral treatment with sunitinib (50 mg/day consecutively for 4 weeks followed by 2 weeks off) was initiated. Patient completed one cycle and development of acute toxicity (grade 3 asthenia, anorexia and mucositis) led to treatment interruption. After recovering from acute toxicity, the patient was proposed to reinitiate treatment with dose reduction, but he refused any medical treatment. At the follow-up visit, three months later, the gastrointestinal endoscopy showed four unspecific 2 mm nodules without malignant evidence. The whole-body CT did not reveal any other abnormality except for the known lung nodes. PET scan six months after treatment confirmed complete gastric response.