Calcified renal cell carcinoma: a clinical, radiographic and pathologic study.

A retrospective review from 1954 to 1977 revealed 17 patients with radiographically calcified renal cell carcinoma. Any calcified renal lesion, regardless of the characteristics of the calcification, must be regarded as suspicious for a malignant neoplasm. Calcified renal cell carcinoma appears to be a biologically distinct subgroup of renal parenchymal tumors. The angiographic diagnosis of these tumors often was difficult since most were either hypovascular or avascular. Most calcified renal parenchymal tumors were relatively large but tended to be localized and histologically well differentiated. These tumors were associated with a predicted 5-year survival rate of 77 per cent.