Tumour thrombus consistency has no impact on survival in patients with renal cell carcinoma

Abstract

The prognosis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with venous tumour thrombus (VTT) is variable and not always possible to predict. The prognostic impact and independence of tumour thrombus-related factors including the recently introduced tumour thrombus consistency (TTC) on overall survival remain controversial. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic role of TTC in patients' survival. We determined the tumour thrombus consistency (solid vs. friable) in a cohort of 84 patients with RCC and VTT who underwent nephrectomy with thrombectomy, and performed a retrospective evaluation of the patients' data from the prospectively maintained database. A total of 45% of patients had solid thrombus (sTT) and 55% had friable thrombus (fTT). The venous tumour thrombus consistency was not predictive of overall survival. Further studies, preferably prospective and with a larger number of patients, are needed to validate the obtained results, as well as to evaluate the usefulness of tumour thrombus consistency in clinical practice for stratifying the risk of recurrence and planning further follow-up.

Prognostic effect of renal collecting system invasion on survival of patients with renal cell carcinoma and tumor thrombus

“…However, patients with RCC accompanied by VTT represent a unique population because of complex and multidisciplinary approach with individual classification systems [ 9 ]. Despite a relatively large body of literature on outcomes after radical surgery in patients with RCC and VTT, there remain controversies surrounding the prognostic significance of histopathological features [ 10 ]. Numerous studies have investigated pathological stage, grade, histological subtype, nodal status, distant metastases, and fat invasion, yet findings are still debatable.…”