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Researchers say that they have evidence for an association between renal cell carcinoma and multiple myeloma that 'cannot be explained by random incidence alone.'

"For the first time, researchers have evidence for an association between renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and multiple myeloma (MM) - one that "cannot be explained by random incidence alone," they say.

"I think general oncologists as well as myeloma and renal cancer physicians should be aware of this association," Dr. Mohamad A. Hussein of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, noted in comments to Reuters Health.

In a review of data on patients referred to the Cleveland Clinic between 1990 and 2005, Dr. Hussein and colleagues identified 1100 patients with MM, 2704 with RCC, and eight with concomitant MM and RCC.

In four of the eight patients, RCC was diagnosed three to 46 months after the MM diagnosis; in the remaining four, RCC was diagnosed one to 108 months before the MM diagnosis. Seven of the eight presented with right renal involvement.

"The probability of this association was much higher than that expected in the general population," the researchers note in the March issue of BJU International. "No clear treatment-related, environmental, genetic or immune-mediated common factors can fully explain this association."

The investigators note that interleukin-6 supports growth and metastasis in both diseases.

"I think the take-home message," Dr. Hussein said, "is that after active therapy for myeloma, if the kidney lesion does not clear - especially if it is affecting the right kidney - renal cell cancer should be considered. In this series, when myeloma was the presenting malignancy, the renal cell carcinoma was at a very early stage and therefore surgical exploration is critical."

BJU Int 2008;101:712-715"