Paraneoplastic syndromes and oncological outcomes in renal cancer

Paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS) have been defined as a constellation of symptoms and signs seen in patients with malignancy, which cannot be ascribed to the local or distant spread of the tumor. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is most commonly associated with PNS among urological malignancies. We describe the incidence of PNS and the association between the syndromes and oncological outcomes in our patients with RCC.

A retrospective cohort study done at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos. This was a retrospective review of our patients who had RCC over 11-year period (2006 to 2016). The incidence of PNS syndromes were hypercalcemia, Stauffer's syndrome, hypertension, anemia, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), persistent leukocytosis, and its correlation to outcome of disease were analyzed. In addition, the age, gender, clinical features, and stage of disease were analyzed. Chi square, Fischer exact test, and Kaplan-Meier survival, curve and logistic regression.

: In total, 101 patients were operated within the period. Age of the patients ranged from 11 to 81 years (mean of 45.17 ± 16.3). There were 46 males and 55 females with M:F ratio of 1:1.2. Majority of the patients, 74 (73%), had clear cell variant of RCC. Twenty-seven patients (26.7%) had triad of flank pain, flank mass, and hematuria. The incidence of PNS were hypercalcaemia 7 (6.9%), Stauffer's syndrome 12 (11.9%), hypertension 16 (15.8%), anemia 61 (60.4%), elevated ESR 56 (55.4%), and persistent leukocytosis 3 (3.0%). At a median follow-up of 6 months, 72 patients (71.3%) were alive, whereas 29 patients (28.7%) were dead.

Among the PNS, only Stauffer's syndrome was significantly associated with poor outcome.