Haematologic findings in patients with renal carcinoma

Haemoglobin concentration and leukocyte and platelet counts were studied in 122 patients with renal carcinoma, 104 of whom subsequently underwent nephrectomy. In 61 of the operable patients the tumour was located within the renal capsule (group I) and in the other 43 it had invaded the perinephric tissues (group II). Eleven of the group II patients also had distant metastases in one or two sites. Multiple distant metastases precluded renal surgery in 18 patients (group III). Normochromic anaemia (haemoglobin less than 120 micrograms/l) was found in 17% and leukocytosis (greater than 8 x 10(9)/l) in 25% of the group I patients. The corresponding frequencies for group III were 72 and 67%. Severe anaemia was found in patients with localized tumours as well as in patients with extensive metastases. Thrombocytosis (400-800 x 10(9)/l) occurred in less than 20% of the patients in groups I and II, but in 42% in group III. Thrombocytopenia (less than 200 x 10(9)/l), on the other hand, which was present in 31% of the group I patients, was less common in those with metastasizing tumours. Haematologic anomalies in renal carcinoma suggest either bone-marrow metastases of tumour-induced mechanisms such as production of erythropoietin or thrombopoietin and phagocytic and chemotactic effects of tumour cells or auto-immune processes. When uncorrected by nephrectomy in patients without signs of metastases, such haematologic findings suggest concomitant blood disorders.