Capturing Renal Cell Carcinoma Recurrences When Asymptomatic Improves Patient Survival

The purpose of this study was to explore whether the practice of postoperative renal cell carcinoma (RCC) surveillance affords a survival benefit by investigating whether detection of RCC recurrences in an asymptomatic versus symptomatic manner influences mortality. We identified 737 patients who underwent partial or radical nephrectomy for M0 RCC between 1998 and 2016. Overall survival and disease-specific survival stratified by the type of recurrence detection (asymptomatic vs. symptomatic) was estimated using Kaplan-Meier probabilities both from the time of surgery and from the time of recurrence. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to evaluate the impact of the type of recurrence detection on mortality. A total of 78 patients (10.6%) experienced recurrence after surgery, of whom 63 (80.8%) were asymptomatic (detected using routine surveillance) and 15 (19.2%) were symptomatic. The median postoperative follow-up was 47.2 months (interquartile range, 26.3-89.4 months). Five- and 10-year overall survival, from time of surgery, among patients with asymptomatic versus symptomatic recurrences was 57% and 39% versus 24% and 8%, respectively (P = .0002). As compared with asymptomatic recurrences, patients with symptomatic recurrences had an increased risk of overall (OD) and disease-specific death (DSD) both when examined from the time of surgery (OD: hazard ratio [HR], 3.16; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.33-7.49; P = .0091 and DSD: HR, 3.44; 95% CI, 1.38-8.57; P = .0079) and from the time of recurrence (OD: HR, 2.93; 95% CI, 1.24-6.93; P = .0143 and DSD: HR, 3.62; 95% CI, 1.45-9.01; P = .0058). Capturing RCC recurrences in an asymptomatic manner during routine surveillance is associated with improved patient survival. It remains unclear if surveillance of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) affords a survival benefit. Using 737 post-nephrectomy patients with M0 RCC, we examined whether detecting asymptomatic versus symptomatic recurrences influences mortality. Multivariable analysis showed that symptomatic recurrences were associated with a 3-fold increased risk of both overall and disease-specific mortality. These findings support that RCC surveillance provides beneficial patient outcomes.