Five-year survival following excision of renal cell carcinoma extending into inferior vena cava

Fifteen consecutive patients having radical nephrectomy and excision of tumor extension from the inferior vena cava for pathologic Stage 3A renal cell carcinoma were followed up for a minimum of five years. Survival was compared with patients having radical nephrectomy for Stage 2 or Stage 3 renal cell carcinoma in the same time interval. Five-year survival in the Stage 3A group (47%) was similar to that for patients with Stage 2 tumors (54%) and significantly better than Stage 3 patients with positive lymph nodes at surgery (12%). Renal cell carcinoma with venous extension has a reasonable prognosis after surgical excision and warrants an aggressive surgical approach.