The clinical characteristics of renal cell carcinoma in female patients

Molecular differences in renal cell carcinoma between males and females

PURPOSE

The disparity in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) risk and treatment outcome between males and females is well documented, but the underlying molecular mechanisms remain poorly elucidated.

METHODS

We performed a narrative review synthesizing contemporary evidence on sex-specific molecular differences in healthy kidney tissue and RCC.

RESULTS

In healthy kidney tissue, gene expression differs significantly between males and females, including autosomal and sex-chromosome-linked genes. The differences are most prominent for sex-chromosome-linked genes and attributable to Escape from X chromosome-linked inactivation and Y chromosome loss. The frequency distribution of RCC histologies varies between the sexes, particularly for papillary, chromophobe, and translocation RCC. In clear-cell and papillary RCC, sex-specific gene expressions are pronounced, and some of these genes are amenable to pharmacotherapy. However, for many, the impact on tumorigenesis remains poorly understood. In clear-cell RCC, molecular subtypes and gene expression pathways have distinct sex-specific trends, which also apply to the expression of genes implicated in tumor progression.

CONCLUSION

Current evidence suggests meaningful genomic differences between male and female RCC, highlighting the need for sex-specific RCC research and personalized sex-specific treatment approaches.

Decadal Experience of Renal Cell Carcinoma from a Tertiary Care Teaching Institute in North India

To study the current trends of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in terms of demographic characteristics, clinical presentation, staging, mode of management, histopathology, and survival characteristics from a high volume tertiary care teaching institute in North India. We retrospectively reviewed the records of all patients of RCC between January 2006 and December 2015 and variables like age, gender, symptoms, tumor size/location/number, stage, type of surgery, histopathology, and survival characteristics were studied. One hundred forty-four patients were included in the study. Most common age group of presentation was 50-59 years (29.8%), male to female ratio was 2.5, and majority of cases were smokers. Flank pain was the most common presenting complaint (38.2%), classical triad (pain, fever, hematuria) was present in 25%, and incidental diagnosis was made in 11.1% cases. Stage T2a was most common presentation with majority of tumors present in upper pole (27.1%). Renal vein involvement (T3a) was present in 10.4%, hilar lymph node involvement in 25%, and distant metastasis was observed in 20.1% cases. Radical nephrectomy was most common surgery performed (75%) and clear cell carcinoma was the most common histopathology (75.7%) followed by papillary (11.1%). Women reported more chromophobe type and low-grade cancers, although rest of clinico-pathological features did not show any gender difference. Mean follow-up of the study was 6-122 months with younger (< 29 years) patients reporting lower 5-year survival and higher stage disease. Renal cell carcinoma shows a different trend in our study population, compared to western data, with large size tumors and advanced stage presentation being more common.

Changing the Stage, Grade and Histological Subtypes of Renal Cell Carcinomas during 10 Years Period

Renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) account 80-85% of all primary renal neoplasms and originate from the renal cortex. The patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy for renal tumour in our unit between January 2005 and 2015 were evaluated retrospectively. The patients were divided into two groups; group 1 includes patients who were treated between January 2005 and December 2009, group 2 those from January 2010 to 2015. There were 103 patients in group 1. The patients were between 21 and 89 years with mean age of 61.46 year. Renal cell carcinomas account 83.4% of the patients, benign renal tumours were 8.7% and transitional cell carcinomas were 7.7% of the patients in group 1. A total of 32.5% RCCs were classified as pT1a, 24.4% as pT1b, 15.1% as pT2a, 11.6% as pT2b, 15.1% as pT3a and 1.1% as pT4. There were 202 patients in group 2 and the patients were between 27 and 81 years with mean age of 58.5 year. Renal cell carcinomas comprised the main bulk of the tumours with 182 nephrectomy specimens. According to the pathological classification of RCCs, 51 specimens were found as pT1a, 54 were pT1b, 13 were pT2a, 14 were pT2b, 48 were pT3a and 2 were pT4. Although, the incidence of small renal masses has been increasing with widespread use of imaging techniques and recent advancements, the proportion of high grade and advanced stage renal tumours increased during the study period.

Organ Preservation Is Less Frequently Performed in Women Surgically Treated for Papillary Renal Cell Carcinoma-Results of a Comprehensive Multicenter Study

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the impact of gender on the clinicopathologic features and survival of patients with surgically treated papillary renal cell carcinoma (papRCC) using a comprehensive international multicenter database.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Data of 2325 patients undergoing surgery for unilateral papRCC between 1984 and 2015 in 17 European and North American centers were retrospectively collated. The impact of clinicopathologic features on the likelihood of nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) was evaluated using a multivariable logistic regression model. The influence on cancer-specific mortality (CSM) and other-cause mortality was analyzed by multivariable competing-risk regression models. Finally, subgroup analyses were conducted for organ-confined (n = 2075) and non-organ-confined tumors (n = 250). The median follow-up was 47 months.

RESULTS

The study cohort included 1782 (77%) male patients (male-to-female ratio 3.3:1.0). Considering age, symptoms at presentation, performance status, pathologic tumor size, stage, and grade, we observed that there were no significant gender-specific differences. In contrast, female patients underwent NSS significantly less frequently (P <.001). On multivariable analysis, the likelihood of NSS was 72% higher in male patients after adjusting for all relevant cofactors (P <.001). No significant gender-specific differences in terms of CSM and other-cause mortality were demonstrated, but CSM was 59% lower in female patients in the subgroup of organ-confined tumors (P = .001).

CONCLUSION

No impact of gender on survival was found analyzing this large cohort of patients undergoing surgery for papRCC. However, CSM appears to be lower in female patients with organ-confined disease. In this context, it is interesting that the likelihood of NSS seems to be significantly higher in male patients.

Increased risk of end-stage renal disease in patients with renal cell carcinoma: a 12-year nationwide follow-up study

The effect of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) on the risk for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has not been confirmed. The present population-based study used the claims data from the Taiwan National Health Institutes from 1998 to 2010 to compare the risk for ESRD in patients with and without RCC.The study cohort consisted of 2940 patients who had newly diagnosed with RCC but no history of ESRD; the control cohort consisted of 23,520 matched patients without RCC. Cox proportional hazard regressions were performed to compute ESRD risk after adjusting for possible confounding factors. Kaplan-Meier analysis and the log-rank test were also used to compare patients and controls.A total of 119 patients in the RCC group (incidence rate: 119/2940; 4.05%) and 160 patients in the control group (incidence rate: 160/23,520; 0.68%) were diagnosed with ESRD during the follow-up period. After adjusting for potential confounders, the RCC group had an ESRD hazard ratio (HR) of 5.63 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.37-7.24] relative to the control group. In addition, among patients with RCC, females (adjusted HR: 6.95, 95% CI: 4.82-10.1) had a higher risk for ESRD than males (adjusted HR: 4.79, 95% CI: 3.37-6.82). Finally, there were significant joint effects of chronic kidney disease and diabetes on increasing the risk of ESRD in patients with and without RCC (P < 0.01). The limitations of this study include the retrospective design and the inability to assess methods of treatment and measure the aggressiveness of RCC.Our data indicates that RCC is an independent risk factor for ESRD, especially in females.

Gender differences in clinicopathological features and survival in surgically treated patients with renal cell carcinoma: an analysis of the multicenter CORONA database

PURPOSE

To investigate gender differences in clinicopathological features and to analyze the prognostic impact of gender in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients undergoing surgery.

METHODS

A total of 6,234 patients (eleven centers; Europe and USA) treated by radical or partial nephrectomy were included in this retrospective study (median follow-up 59 months; IQR 30-106). Gender differences in clinicopathological parameters were assessed. Multivariable Cox regression models were applied to determine the influence of parameters on disease-specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS

A total of 3,751 patients of the study group were male patients (60.2 %), who were significantly younger at diagnosis and received more frequently NSS than women. Significantly, more often high-grade tumors and simultaneous metastasis were present in men. Whereas tumor size and pTN stages did not differ between genders, clear-cell and chromophobe RCC was diagnosed less frequently, but papillary RCC more often in men. Gender also independently influenced DSS (HR 0.75, p < 0.001) and OS (HR 0.80, p < 0.001) with a benefit for women. However, inclusion of gender in multivariable models did not significantly gain predictive accuracies (PA) for DSS (0.868-0.870, p = 0.628) and OS (0.775-0.777, p = 0.522). Furthermore, no significantly different DSS and OS rates were found in patients undergoing NSS.

CONCLUSIONS

This study demonstrates important gender differences in clinicopathological features and outcome of RCC patients with improved DSS and OS for women compared to men, even if solely patients with clear-cell RCC or M0-stage are taken into evaluation. However, inclusion of gender in multivariable models does not significantly gain PA of multivariable models.

Meta-analysis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma gene expression defines a variant subgroup and identifies gender influences on tumor biology

BACKGROUND

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) displays molecular and histologic heterogeneity. Previously described subsets of this disease, ccA and ccB, were defined based on multigene expression profiles, but it is unclear whether these subgroupings reflect the full spectrum of disease or how these molecular subtypes relate to histologic descriptions or gender.

OBJECTIVE

Determine whether additional subtypes of ccRCC exist and whether these subtypes are related to von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) inactivation, hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) 1 and 2 expression, tumor histology, or gender.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

Six large, publicly available ccRCC gene expression databases were identified that cumulatively provided data for 480 tumors for meta-analysis via meta-array compilation.

MEASUREMENTS

Unsupervised consensus clustering was performed on the meta-arrays. Tumors were examined for the relationship of multigene-defined consensus subtypes and expression signatures of VHL mutation and HIF status, tumor histology, and gender.

RESULTS AND LIMITATIONS

Two dominant subsets of ccRCC were observed. However, a minor third cluster was revealed that correlated strongly with a wild type (WT) VHL expression profile and indications of variant histologies. When variant histologies were removed, ccA tumors naturally divided by gender. This technique is limited by the potential for persistent batch effect, tumor sampling bias, and restrictions of annotated information.

CONCLUSIONS

The ccA and ccB subsets of ccRCC are robust in meta-analysis among histologically conventional ccRCC tumors. A third group of tumors was identified that may represent a new variant of ccRCC. Within definitively clear cell tumors, gender may delineate tumors in such a way that it could have implications regarding current treatments and future drug development.

Does male sex influence the prognosis of patients with renal cancer?

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of sex on stage, grade, subtype, and prognosis of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This study included 1,810 patients treated by surgery for RCC at the University Hospitals of Hannover and Marburg between 1990 and 2005. The median follow-up was 54 months.

RESULTS

Of all the patients, 1,167 (64.5%) were men and 643 (35.5%) were women. Men were significantly younger (mean, 61.4 vs. 63.5 years; p < 0.001), and suffered more frequently from advanced tumor stages (45.2 vs. 37.6%; p = 0.002) and higher tumor grades (14.1 vs. 11.1%; p = 0.003). Kaplan Meier curves revealed a significant difference in cancer-specific survival between men and women (5-year survival 64.7 vs. 74.0%; p = 0.002). However, unlike tumor stage, grade, and N/M status, sex could not be retained as a significant independent prognostic marker in multivariate analysis.

CONCLUSIONS

RCC in men is characterized by higher tumor stages and more frequent metastasis at diagnosis along with inferior tumor-specific survival. However, as sex failed to qualify as an independent prognostic marker for cancer-specific survival, delayed diagnosis due to insufficient or neglected (routine) medical check-up and/or more aggressive tumor biology could be concurrently causative for the higher incidence of RCC in men.