Tumor Size Significantly Affects Prognosis in Pathological T3a Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Aim: To evaluate the prognostic value of tumor size in patients with pathological T3aN0M0 renal cell carcinoma (RCC) postoperatively. Patients and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed charts of patients with pathological T2N0M0 and T3aN0M0 RCC undergoing radical or partial nephrectomy at our Institution from 2000-2020. Survival analysis using Kaplan–Meier analysis and multivariate Cox regression was performed. Results: A total of 165 patients were included and analyzed. We found that patients with pT3a RCC >7 cm experienced worse 5-year recurrence-free survival (43.8% versus 77.3%, p=0.006) and cancer-specific survival (67.6 versus 94%, p=0.003) compared with those with pT3a RCC ≤7 cm. However, there was no significant difference in recurrence-free and cancer-specific survival between patients with pT2 and pT3a RCC ≤7 cm. Based on multivariate analysis, tumor size >7 cm was an independent factor for tumor recurrence and cancer-related death [hazard ratio(HR)=2.654, p=0.005; and HR=5.016, p=0.005, respectively]. Renal vein invasion was associated with poorer 5-year recurrence-free survival than fat invasion (48.1% versus 70.9%, p=0.032) and was a predictor for tumor recurrence (HR=1.987, p=0.043). Conclusion: Tumor size has a significant impact on prognosis for patients with pathological T3aN0M0 RCC and should be taken into consideration when staging disease and predicting outcomes for these patients.