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 outco me in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma treated with radica l nephrectomy. Materials and Methods: We reviewed retrospectively the records of 54 patients with pathological T1, T2 renal cell carcinoma f or age, sex, histological grade, cell type, architecture, deoxyribonuc leic acid ploidy pattern, nuclear morphometry and vimentin expression. Variables found to predict outcome were correlated with tumor size, w hich was further tested for its prognostic value. Results: The best pr edictors of prognosis were grade, ploidy pattern, nuclear morphometry and vimentin expression. Small (less than 5 cm.) and large (larger tha n 5 cm.) tumors had similar distribution of prognostic variable subgro ups. No differences in progression rate or survival were noted between the tumor size categories. Conclusions: These results suggest that sm all renal tumors may follow unfavorable courses and require aggressive treatment.