[Prognostic-factor-related survival in a series of patients with renal cell carcinoma]

To analyze the survival rate in a series of patients with the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma over a 19 year period based on prognostic factors usually employed in clinical practice.

Retrospective study of 259 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma undergoing surgery in our department between 1988 and 2006. From clinical, pathological, and follow-up data we performed a survival study comparing the impact of usual prognostic factors: stage, tumor size, nuclear grade, etc.

264 surgical procedures were performed in 259 patients, with a mean age of 6 1.91 yr. The most frequent way of diagnosis was incidental finding (52.12% of the cases); radical nephrectomy was performed in 72.97% of the cases in comparison with 26.25% partial nephrectomies. Clear cell carcinoma was the most frequent histological diagnosis (69.88%). Patients with clear cell carcinoma, symptomatic tumors, bigger size, and greater Fuhrman nuclear grade presented worse survivals, mainly in tumors with stage >pT3a. The presence of involved lymph nodes or distant metastases is associated with a much lower cancer-specific survival. Global five-year cancer-specific survival was over 80%.

The classical prognostic factors used to predict survival in renal cancer are still useful, mainly pathological stage pT. We observed a better survival in comparison with older series, but this kind of tumors continue generating important morbidity-mortality.