The impact of tumor size on clinical outcome in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma treated by radical nephrectomy

Purpose: We investigated the influence of tumor size on clinical outcome in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma treated with radical nephrectomy. Materials and Methods: We reviewed retrospectively the records of 54 patients with pathological T1, T2 renal cell carcinoma for age, sex, histological grade, cell type, architecture, deoxyribonucleic acid ploidy pattern, nuclear morphometry and vimentin expression. Variables found to predict outcome were correlated with tumor size, which was further tested for its prognostic value. Results: The best predictors of prognosis were grade, ploidy pattern, nuclear morphometry and vimentin expression. Small (less than 5 cm.) and large (larger than 5 cm.) tumors had similar distribution of prognostic variable subgroups. No differences in progression rate or survival were noted between the tumor size categories. Conclusions: These results suggest that small renal tumors may follow unfavorable courses and require aggressive treatment.