Clinical characteristics and treatments of hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma: two case reports and literature review

Background The objective of this study is to discuss clinical characteristics and treatments of hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma on the basis of 2 cases and to review recent literature, in order to present medical advances. Methods A 29-year old male patient came to our hospital because of a huge tumour on the right kidney. Enhanced CT showed that the tumour was about 15.5*10.5 cm, and was considered to be malignant. Another case was a 38-year old female patient. She complained was found to have a right kidney tumour in a routine physical examination. Enhanced CT showed an early-stage tumour of about 4.3*3.7 cm on the lower pole of the right kidney. The male patient underwent open radical nephrectomy and the female patient underwent laparoscopic radical nephrectomy and extensive retroperitoneal lymph node dissection. The two patients underwent genetic testing and were diagnosed as having hereditary leiomyomatosis with renal cell carcinoma. Results The postoperative pathology in both patients revealed type 2 papillary renal cell carcinoma but with different prognosis. The male patient suffered multiple metastasis 10 months post-operation. The metastatic tumour of the abdominal wall was resected to confirm recurrence and hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma was diagnosed by the genetic test. While the female patient had a specific family history and uterine leiomyomas, the genetic test helped us to identify hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma pre-operation. Because of the early diagnosis and timely treatment, the female patient was considered to have a good prognosis. Conclusion Hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma is a rare hereditary disease resulting from FH gene mutation. There are currently no effective treatments.Our cases demonstrate that hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma is a very aggressive disease. Early screening and surveillance are recommended for patients with a family history or who are at risk of hereditary leiomyomatosis renal cell carcinoma. Surgical and palliative therapy still play an important role in clinical treatment.