Summary

Background: Extensive necrosis is rare in primary renal cell carcinoma. This finding may reflect the biological characteristics of the carcinoma and therefore could be of prognostic and clinical value.

Objectives: To assess the incidence of necrosis in renal cell carcinoma and its potential prognostic value.

Methods: We conducted a consecutive retrospective study of 173 patients after radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma. Clinical and pathological data were collected from hospital medical records and compiled into a computerized database.

Results: Extensive necrosis was found in 31 tumor specimens (17.9%). Univariate analysis showed that the specimens with extensive necrosis were significantly larger and manifested more perirenal and venous extension than the tumors without necrosis. The size of the renal tumor was the only parameter that remained significant in multivariate analysis (P=0.0001). Overall disease-free survival did not differ significantly between patients with necrotic tumors and those without (68% and 66% respectively).

Conclusions: The finding of extensive necrosis in renal cell carcinoma specimens does not seem to be related to tumor biology but rather may reflect the relation between size and vascularity of the tumor.