Objectives. This study was performed to determine which histologic types of renal cell carcinoma have an association with a second primary malignancy.

Methods. Seven hundred sixty-three patients underwent an operation for renal cell carcinoma between July 1989 and January 1999. The incidence of antecedent, synchronous, or subsequent second malignancies was determined. Statistical tests based on the Poisson model were used to compare the observed number of subsequent malignancies developing after a diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma with the expected number calculated using the 1973 to 1994 U.S. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results age, race, gender, and calendar-year specific incidence rates.

Results. Second primary malignancies were present in 209 of 763 (27.4%) patients, with prostate, breast, colon, and bladder cancer and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma being the five most common second malignancies. The other malignancies were antecedent in 118 cases (44.5%), synchronous in 104 cases (39.2%), and subsequent in 43 cases (16.2%). Patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma were at increased risk of developing bladder cancer (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] 6.5, P = 0.038). Men with papillary renal cell carcinoma were also at increased risk of developing prostate cancer (SIR 2.8, P = 0.035).

Conclusions. There is an increased risk of subsequent bladder and prostate cancer in patients with papillary renal cell carcinoma.