[Study of the effects of treatment with interferon for the advanced renal cell carcinoma based upon the survival rate].
BACKGROUND
There is no consistent acknowledgment with the effects of the prolongation of survival for the advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) treated with interferon (IFN). Therefore, we tried to study on the effects of such prolongation of survival for the advanced RCC through the comparative analysis between the patients treated with IFN and the patients treated with other treatment modalities in the past years.


METHODS
We differentiated the patients treated with IFN (recurrent patients after nephrectomy as Group I, and patients with stage 4B as Group II) from the patients treated with other modalities (recurrent patients after nephrectomy as Group III, and patients with stage 4B and Group IV). We compared the survival rate between the two groups (Groups I vs III, and Groups II vs IV).


RESULTS
Regarding the various factors affecting prognosis of RCC, no significant difference was observed among these groups. 1) There observed a significantly favorable survival rate in the Group I compared with the Group III, and the same result was observed in the Group II compared with the Group IV. 2) In the patients with performance status (P.S.) 0 and low grade, there observed a significantly favourable survival rate in the Group I compared with the Group III, and the same result was observed in the Group II compared with the Group IV. Furthermore, in the patients with low stage, the Group I showed a significantly favourable survival rate compared with the Group III. 3) In the study on the number of metastatic organs (1, 2 and 3 organs or more), there observed a significantly favourable survival rate in the Group I compared with the Group III for all numbers of the metastatic organs. The same result was observed in the group II compared with the Group IV, except for the patient with 3 organs or more. Regarding the operative procedures for the metastatic side, the patients who did not receive the operative procedures showed a significantly favourable survival rate in the Group I compared with the Group III. The same result was observed in the Group II compared with the Group IV. 4) As to the survival rate based upon the response rate, only the patients with no change (N.C.) showed a significantly favourable survival rate in the Group I compared with the Group III. The same result was observed in the Group II compared with the Group IV.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that the treatment with IFN for the advanced RCC would much contribute to the prolongation of the survival in comparison with the previous patients who received other treatments.
Onishi
T
T
Department of Urology, University School of Medicine.
Ohishi
Y
Y
Iizuka
N
N
Shirakawa
H
H
Suzuki
Y
Y
Suzuki
H
H
Asano
K
K
Hosobe
T
T
Nakajo
H
H
Hatano
T
T
Makino
H
H
Tomita
M
M
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D015996:Survival Rate
D007370:Interferon Type I; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D007371:Interferon-gamma