Metastatic renal cell carcinoma with undetectable renal mass presenting as lymphadenopathy

Renal cell carcinoma has the ability to metastasize to any organ; about 16 % of affected patients present initially with metastasis. However, it is rare for this tumor to present with metastasis from an unidentified primary. The current use of immunohistochemistry and molecular genetics has enabled clinicians to reach a precise diagnosis. It has been hypothesized that the treatment protocol for metastatic renal cell carcinoma can be applied to cases with undetectable primary. In this paper, a novel case of metastatic renal cell carcinoma presenting with lymphadenopathy with no evidence of a primary renal lesion is reported from Kuwait cancer center.