Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (RCC): oncological outcomes and prognostic factors in a large multicentre series

OBJECTIVES To investigate cancer-related outcomes of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma (ChRCC) in a large multicentre dataset. To determine prognostic factors for recurrence-free survival (RFS) and cancer-specific survival (CSS) for this RCC histological type. PATIENTS AND METHODS In all, 291 patients with ChRCC were identified from a multi-institutional retrospective database including 5463 patients who were surgically treated for RCC at 16 Italian academic centres between 1995 and 2007. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were used to identify prognostic factors predictive of RFS and CSS after surgery for ChRCC. RESULTS At a median follow-up of 44 months, 25 patients (8.6%) had disease recurrence and 18 patients (6.2%) died from disease. The 5-year RFS and CSS rates were 89.3% and 93%, respectively. Gender (P = 0.014), clinical T stage (P = 0.017), pathological T stage (P = 0.003), and sarcomatoid differentiation (P = 0.032) were independent predictors of RFS at multivariable analysis. For CSS, there was an independent prognostic role for gender (P = 0.032) and stage (P = 0.019) among the clinical variables and for T stage (P = 0.016), N/M stage (P = 0.023), and sarcomatoid differentiation (P = 0.015) among the pathological variables. CONCLUSIONS Patients with ChRCC have a low risk of tumour progression, metastasis, and cancer-specific death. Patient gender, clinical and pathological tumour stage, and sarcomatoid differentiation are significant predictors of RFS and CSS for ChRCC.