Laparoscopic adrenalectomy for metachronous metastasis from renal cell carcinoma

Background Metachronous adrenal metastases (AM) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are rare. We report our experience of surgical resection in this setting, with particular respect to laparoscopic approach and long-term outcome. Methods A retrospective review of 11 patients who underwent adrenalectomy for metachronous AM from RCC was conducted between 2002 and 2005 in a tertiary referral center. Results CT scan findings were those of an adrenal mass ranging from 2 to 13 cm in diameter with a basal density of 12 to 28 Hounsfield Units and strong heterogeneous enhancement following contrast injection. The surgical procedure consisted of controlateral (n = 5), ipsilateral (n = 2), and bilateral (n = 1) laparoscopic adrenalectomy, whereas three patients underwent controlateral open adrenalectomy for adrenal mass > 10 cm. Nine patients were recurrence-free with a median follow-up of 34 months. In the remaining two patients, lung metastases were discovered at postoperative months 28 and 11, respectively. The former patient is alive and free of disease recurrence 32 months after lung metastasis resection, whereas the latter is currently being treated with sunitinib. Conclusions This study confirms that prolonged overall and disease free-survival can be achieved in selected patient after laparosocpic adrenalectomy for AM from RCC.