Prognostic relevance of the histological subtype of renal cell carcinoma

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: According to several studies, when the histological subtype of renal cell carcinoma is established it is possible to attribute a different life expectancy to each patient. We analyzed the prognostic significance of the histological subtype in renal cell carcinoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The authors retrospectively analyzed the follow-up of 230 patients after radical or conservative renal surgery. The histological characteristics of the different subtypes of tumor were obtained and the disease-free and cancer-specific survival curves for the clear cell, cromophobic, papillary, collecting duct (Bellini) subtypes and those with sarcomatoid differentiation were individualized. RESULTS: The disease-free and cancer-specific survival rates for clear cell tumors were 76.6 percent and 68.0 percent respectively, 71.2 percent and 82.1 percent respectively for the cromophobic type, 71.1 percent and 79.8 percent respectively for the papillary type, 26.9 percent and 39.3 percent respectively for the sarcomatoid type, and 0.0 percent and 0.0 percent respectively for the collecting ducts (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: The histological subtypes of renal tumors can stratify patients into different prognostic groups only when the sarcomatoid differentiation is present.