Renal cell carcinoma in end-stage renal disease: Multi-institutional comparative analysis of survival.

Objectives: To describe the clinical features of renal cell carcinoma arising in end-stage renal disease and to compare survival outcomes after definitive treatment with non-end-stage renal disease renal cell carcinoma.

Methods: Data of 181 consecutive patients with end-stage renal disease renal cell carcinoma who had received surgical treatment between 1995 and 2011 at seven institutions were reviewed. Data of 362 non-end-stage renal disease renal cell carcinoma patients matched for clinicopathological parameters who received surgery at Asan Medical Center during the same study period were also reviewed. The two study groups were compared with respect to recurrence-free, cancer-specific, and overall survival by Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox proportional hazards method. Mean follow up was 40 ± 34.2 months after surgery.

Results: Median tumor size was 2.5 cm (interquartile range 1.5-4.5), and pathological tumor stage was T1 in 78%, T2 in 7.1% and T3 and higher in 14.9%. Tumor histological type was clear cell in 63%, papillary in 17%, chromophobe in 5%, clear cell papillary in 2.8% and acquired cystic disease-related in 6.1%. Compared with the controls, the stage-specific 5-year recurrence-free survival was similar (87.6 vs 88.5%), but cancer-specific and overall survival was significantly lower. On multivariate analysis, end-stage renal disease renal cell carcinoma was not a predictor for recurrence-free survival, but a significant predictor for cancer-specific (hazard ratio 4.07, 95% confidence interval 2.08-7.94) and overall survival (hazard ratio 3.13, 95% confidence interval 1.66-5.96).

Conclusions: End-stage renal disease renal cell carcinoma seems to have comparable stage-specific recurrence-free, but poorer cancer-specific and overall survival compared with non-end-stage renal disease renal cell carcinoma. As patients with end-stage renal disease are a high-risk population for renal cell carcinoma, routine radiographic screening to improve survival outcomes should be further investigated.