Chronic renal failure: a significant risk factor in the development of acquired renal cysts and renal cell carcinoma. Case reports and review of the literature.

Three male patients with end-stage renal disease on chronic hemodialysis presented with gross hematuria and were subsequently found to have acquired renal cyst disease and progressive bilateral renal cell carcinoma. There are now more than 84 similar cases in the literature, but the precise roles that renal failure and hemodialysis play in the development of renal cysts and renal neoplasms remain unclear. The high incidence of acquired renal cyst disease (45%) and the development of renal tumors (9%, with a 5% to 7% metastatic rate) in patients with end-stage renal failure clearly underscores the need for more intense radiologic monitoring.