Prognostic significance of nuclear sizing in renal cell carcinoma

Nuclear grading has been reported to be a useful prognostic indicator in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). One of the components of nuclear grading, the size or cross-sectional area of cancerous nuclei, might by itself be a determinant of biologic behavior in RCC. To examine this possibility, a retrospective qualitative analysis of clinical and histopathologic parameters in 32 patients with Robson Stage 3 RCC was conducted. Patients with disproportionately larger nuclei in their RCC cells had a statistically shorter median survival (p less than 0.009). The examination of the relative areas of cancerous nuclei, herein termed nuclear sizing, appears to be a prognostic discriminant in primary RCC.