[Treatment and prognosis of renal cell carcinoma extending into the inferior vena cava].
Out of 173 patients with renal cell carcinoma diagnosed at our department between January 1984 and December 1994, 9 (5.2%) had an inferior vena caval tumor thrombus. They consisted of 6 men and 3 women between 43 and 74 years old with a mean age of 59.8 years. The tumors were on the right and left sides in 5 and 4 patients, respectively. According to the Novick's classification, 2, 1, 4 and 2 patients had level 1 (perirenal), level 2 (infrahepatic), level 3 (intrahepatic) and level 4 (suprahepatic) tumors, respectively. Five patients without distant metastases underwent nephrectomy and removal of the vena caval tumor thrombus. Although renal tumors and vena caval tumor thrombi were completely resected in all of the 5, 4 died of disease within 3 years. Only 1 patient without tumor invasion into the inferior vena caval wall survived over 5 years without disease. Since surgical treatment is the sole radical method for renal cell carcinoma, surgery is recommended for the patients even with a vena caval tumor thrombus unless there are metastases.
Ikeda
D
D
Department of Urology, Kanazawa University, Japan.
Tokunaga
S
S
Ohkawa
M
M
Urayama
H
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009360:Neoplastic Cells, Circulating; D009392:Nephrectomy; D011379:Prognosis; D014682:Vena Cava, Inferior / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery