the etiology of multilocular cystic nephroma (mcn) has
been the subject of controversy for a long period of time.
however, many currently believe that mcn is a benign
neoplasm and lies at the benign end of a continuum that
includes the cystic partially differentiated nephroblastoma
(cpdn) variants of wilms’ tumor .
there is a bimodal age distribution. under the age of
5 years, mcn occurs most frequently in males, whereas
the adult group has a female predominance between the
ages of 40 and 60. the most common presenting symptoms
are a painless abdominal mass, abdominal or flank pain, and
occasionally hematuria .
several authors have reported on the difficulty of
differentiating between mcn and multilocular cystic renal
cell carcinoma (mlcc). however, definitive diagnosis is
always histological.
renal cell carcinoma may occasionally arise in a variety
of longstanding cystic diseases of the kidney, including the
cysts of multilocular cystic nephroma. however, most of the
reported malignancies in multilocular renal cysts have been
clear cell carcinomas.
the prognosis for crcc is excellent. a recent study of 21
patients from japan reported that after surgery, 5-year and
10-year disease free specific survival for these patients were
both 100% . our patient remains free of recurrence with 4 years
follow-up.
in summary, a multilocular renal cyst is usually considered a
benign lesion, but malignant changes in the cyst can occur, indicating
that thorough sampling should be undertaken for histology.
however, the prognosis is excellent and most patients are
likely to achieve long-term survival.