Abstract

Background: To review the presentation and management of renal cell carcinoma metastatic to the parotid gland.

Methods: Case report and review of the literature.

Results: There have been 45 cases of renal cell carcinoma metastatic to the parotid gland reported in the English literature. A parotid lesion can be the initial clinical presentation of this malignancy (even before primary site identification). A case of patient with a parotid mass noted 4 years after undergoing a nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma is presented. Superficial parotidectomy with facial nerve monitoring demonstrated metastatic renal cell carcinoma with negative margins on pathology.

Conclusions: Metastatic renal cell carcinoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis a vascular parotid mass in patients have a history of prior diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma. After diagnosis is established, a systemic assessment should be performed given that solitary parotid metastases are uncommon. Due to the limited number of cases reported in the literature, clinical outcomes are difficult to predict.

Keywords: renal cell carcinoma, parotid metastases, parotidectomy, distant metastasis.