Postoperative radiotherapy of renal adenocarcinoma

125 patients with renal adenocarcinoma treated at two departments of radiotherapy in Finland are presented. 82 (66%) of the patients had localized disease and 43 (34%) had distant metastases. The five year survival for all stages was 38% and for cases with local disease 56%. There were no essential differences among Stage I, II and III patients treated with surgery alone or treated with combined operation and postoperative radiotherapy. For tumours with infiltration to adjacent organs or metastases in the lymph nodes the survival was slightly higher after combined surgery and radiotherapy than after surgery alone. For patients with P4 tumours or regional lymph node dissemination postoperative radiotherapy is recommended.