[Incidental and symptomatic kidney cancer: pathological features and survival].

Background: Patients with early diagnosis of renal cell carcinoma (CCR) have higher chance of cure following surgical treatment. This study was set to compare the pathological characteristics between the surgical specimens and the survival of the patients with incidental and symptomatic CCR.

Methods: One hundred and fifteen patients with sporadic CCR were studied retrospectively following nephrectomy and divided into two groups. Group 1; 59 patients with incidental diagnosis and Group 2; 56 symptomatic patients. The mean age of the patients was 59 years, with 86 men and 29 women. Radical nephrectomy was performed in 96 patients and the conservative surgery was performed in the remaining 19. Comparison parameters included pathological outcome, specifically nuclear grade, pathological stage, size of the tumor and presence of microvascular invasion intratumoral and patients survival.

Results: Comparison between the two groups confirmed that the incidental tumors have smaller nuclear grade (p=0.003), smaller size (p=0.001), smaller incidence of microvascular invasion (p<0.001) and lower stage (p<0.001). Disease specific survival and recurrence free survival of the incidental group were statistically higher than the symptomatic group (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Incidentally discovered CCR have more favorable pathological characteristics, the patients have disease free survival when compared to symptomatic CCR.