PROGNOSTIC IMPLICATIONS OF CYTOGENETIC FINDINGS IN KIDNEY CANCER

Objective To evaluate the prognostic impact of cytogenetic findings in renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Patients and methods Tumour cytogenetics, histomorphology, DNA ploidy and S-phase fraction, stage, size, and gr ade were related to survival in 50 consecutive patients with RCC. The mean follow-up was 3.9 years (median 4.2, range 0 - 8.8). Results The predictive probability for recurrence-free survival at 5 years (5-year RFS) for all 50 patients was 0.54. There was a significant associatio n between the degree of cytogenetic complexity and survival, in that p atients with five or less aberrations had a better prognosis than thos e with more than five changes (5-year RFS 0.71 and 0.43, respectively; P < 0.05). Patients with del(8p)/-8, +12, and +20 had a significantly worse prognosis compared with those without these aberrations. Of the well-known prognostic variables grade and stage, the former was far b etter for predicting prognosis, A Spearman correlation test showed a s ignificant covariation of grade with the S-phase fraction, T-stage, an d cytogenetic complexity. Conclusion The degree of cytogenetic complex ity and recurrent cytogenetic abnormalities affect the prognosis in RC C, although grade was the most reliable independent prognostic factor predicting disease recurrence.