Rare squamous cell carcinoma of the kidney with concurrent xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis: A case report and review of the literature

Case presentation - In the current study, we report a 69-year-old female patient who was initially diagnosed with xanthogranulomatous pyelonephritis (XGPN) with nephrolithiasis and a peri-renal abscess. She presented to our department with right flank pain. Physical examination revealed right costovertebral angle knocking pain and computed tomography revealed dilated calyces and one staghorn stone over right kidney, with multiple abscess accumulations over the right perirenal region. Right radical nephrectomy was performed using a transperitoneal flank approach, and pathology revealed squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) with concurrent XGPN. The patient was alive at 4 months post-operative follow-up. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the fifth case of renal SCC with concurrent XGPN reported in the English medical literature. Conclusion - Renal SCC with coexisting XGPN is an extremely rare presentation and only four cases have been previously reported in the English medical literature. A positive diagnosis for this rare combination of diseases was established, based on pathological and immunohistochemical examinations after radical nephrectomy. Poor prognosis has been reported in such cases. Malignancies should be considered in patients with a long-standing history of urolithiasis.