Disappearance of metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the base of the tongue after systemic administration of interferon-alpha.

We describe a 41-year-old Japanese man with metastases of the lung, bone, lymph nodes and the base of the tongue 34 months after right radical nephrectomy. One month after systemic administration of human lymphoblastoid interferon (IFN), the metastasis to the base of the tongue completely disappeared, while other metastases increased both in size and number. Though the true effect of IFN-alpha on the metastatic renal cell carcinoma to the base of the tongue is still unknown, our case indicates that the tongue is a possible sensitive site to IFN-alpha therapy.