Zeitschrift für Integrative Onkologie

Pathological Grade and Gender are Predictors of Small Renal Cell Carcinoma Growth

Abstract

Koichi Sugimoto, Shunji Maekura, Nobutaka Shimizu, Ken Ochiai, Yumiko Sekiguchi, Naoki Matsumura, Taiji Hayashi, Tsukasa Nishioka, Atsunobu Esa and Hirotsugu Uemura

Objective: This study was undertaken to investigate the clinicopathological factors that influence the growth of a small renal mass (SRM) in patients subjected to a delayed surgery intervention.
Methods: We reviewed the clinical records of 37 patients with SRM 4 cm at diagnosis, who underwent delayed surgical intervention during surveillance from January 2000 to December 2013. Radiographic evaluation using computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed at least every 6 months and the tumor size was determined at least twice.
Results: Histopathological analysis revealed that in 35 of the 37 patients the tumor was malignant in stage pT1aN0M0. There were 28 clear cell carcinomas and 7 non clear cell carcinomas. There was a significant difference in the time to tumor doubling (TTD) among clear cell carcinomas (p=0.033). There was also a significant difference in the tumor growth rate (mm/year) of clear cell carcinomas between male and female patients (p=0.028).
Conclusion: The growth rate of small renal mass was slow in the majority of our patients. Pathological grade and gender significantly influenced the growth of clear cell carcinomas.