[The relationship between pathological spreading factors and tumor size in 45 patients with renal cell carcinoma]

The relationship between pathological spreading factors (T3,4 V+, N+, M+) and tumor size was studied in 45 patients with renal cell carcinoma during the past 10 years from 1982. The incidence of having one or more factors was 0% for the 17 tumors smaller than 5 cm, but 75% for the 28 tumors over 5 cm. The mean diameter of the tumors having a T, V, N or M factor was significantly larger than that of tumors having no factor (T1,2V0N0M0). These findings suggest that they have a higher tendency of having spreading factors once the tumors have exceeded a certain size.