A case of metachronous splenic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma after 14 years

We present a case of a patient who developed a metachronous splenic metastasis from renal clear cell carcinoma, for which he has undergone a left nephrectomy 14 years earlier. During his routine follow up a CT scan showed a splenic mass which was considered an isolated metastasis possibly originating from the renal cancer. A splenectomy was performed and histopatological examination of the spleen confirmed the presence of clear cell carcinoma with infiltration of the capsule. Splenic metastases are uncommon and from the reported literature we understand that splenic metastasis from renal cell carcinoma is extremely rare. The optimal treatment seems to be splenectomy with a good long term outcome. With this report the authors would like to discuss the possibility that it could be a case of local recurrence rather than a real metastasis. A revision of previous reports in the literature is performed too