[A clinical study on renal cell carcinoma]

A retrospective study was carried out on 95 patients affected with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) between January 1973 and December 1988. Male to female ratio was 3 to 1 and the average age was 61 years. Hematuria was the most common initial symptom (44 patients, 46.3%), followed by incidental findings (18 patients, 18.9%). Five- and 10-year survival rates for all patients with RCC were 51.9 and 37.1%, respectively. Five-year survival rates for stage I, II, III, and IV were 82.7 54.7, 20.0, and 4.7%, respectively. Statistical analyses identified variables that significantly influenced survival, including lymph node metastasis (p less than 0.01) and distant metastasis (p less than 0.01). Cell type and renal vein involvement did not influence survival significantly. The three different forms of therapy (mitomycin therapy vincristine therapy and immunological therapy) did not influence survival significantly, but the beneficial effect of VBL therapy was obtained.