The Role of Cytoreductive Nephrectomy for Sarcomatoid Renal Cell Carcinoma: A 29-year Institutional Experience.

To assess which patients respond best following cytoreductive nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with sarcomatoid dedifferentiation (sRCC) and whether outcomes are improving over time.

We identified 562 patients with metastatic RCC treated between 1989-2018 with cytoreductive nephrectomy. We reviewed baseline clinical and pathological characteristics, including the presence of sRCC, and metastatic sites at time of nephrectomy. The primary study endpoint was overall survival (OS). Univariate and multivariate Cox-regression analyses were used to identify significant predictors of OS.

The study cohort had 192 sRCC patients, with a median age of 59 years. Frequently involved metastatic locations were lung (n=115), retroperitoneal nodes (n=63) and axial skeleton (n=43). Lung metastasis were more prevalent in clear cell histology (p=0.0017) whereas nodal involvement was associated with non-clear cell subtypes (p=0.0064). Median follow-up was 14 months. Estimated 2- and 5-year OS were 34.1% and 14.8%, respectively. On multivariate analysis, metastases to the liver (HR=1.64; 95% CI 1.02-2.63; p=0.04), lung (HR=1.50; 95% CI 1.05-2.14; p=0.03), retroperitoneal nodes (HR=1.52; 95% CI 1.03-2.25; p=0.04) and non-clear cell histology (HR=1.61; 95% CI 1.10-2.35; p=0.01) were associated with worse OS in the sRCC cohort.

OS after cytoreductive nephrectomy for sRCC and non-sRCC is improving over time. In patients with sRCC, presentations with unifocal metastasis not involving the liver or lung, clear cell histology and node negative disease have better outcomes following cytoreductive nephrectomy and may yield greater benefit from the procedure.

Urology. 2019 Nov 11 [Epub ahead of print]

Andrew W Silagy, Roy Mano, Kyle A Blum, Renzo G DiNatale, Julian Marcon, Satish K TIckoo, Eduard Reznik, Jonathan A Coleman, Paul Russo, A Ari Hakimi

Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY; Department of Surgery, University of Melbourne, Austin Hospital, Melbourne, Australia., Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY., Genitourinary Oncology Service, Department of Pathology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY., Center for Molecular Oncology, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY., Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY. Electronic address: .