Renal cell carcinoma in India demonstrates early age of onset & a late stage of presentation

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Clinical spectrum of most of the diseases in developing countries is different from the west. Similarly whether renal cell carcinomas (RCC) in a developing country like India is seen in the same spectrum in relation to the age at presentation as in the west is not described in the literature. This study was carried out to investigate the spectrum of RCC in India with regards to age of onset, stage at presentation and survival. METHODS: Patients with renal tumour, treated between January 2000 to December 2012 in a tertiary care hospital in north India, were analyzed for age at presentation, clinical features and histopathological characteristics. Clinical diagnosis was made by contrast enhanced computerized tomography (CECT) scans and/or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Renal masses diagnosed as angiomyolipoma, infective masses and hydatid cysts were excluded from the analysis. Impact of various age groups on gender, tumour size, TNM stage, Fuhrman grade, histopathological subtypes, lymph node, inferior vena cava (IVC) involvement and survival was analyzed. Patients were grouped in five age groups i.e. ≤39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69 and more than 70 yr of age. RESULTS: Of the total 617 patients with 617 renal tumours (2 patients had bilateral tumours but only the larger tumour was considered) clinically suspected as RCC, 586 had epithelial cell tumour and the remaining 31 had non epithelial cell tumour. The mean tumour size was 8.08±3.5 cm (median 7, range 1-25 cm). Tumour of less than 4 cm size was present in only 10.4 per cent patients. The mean age at diagnosis was 55.15±13.34 (median 56, range 14-91 yr) years. A total of 30.03 per cent of renal tumours presented in patients younger than 50 yr of age. Though there was no difference in stage, Fuhrman's grade, IVC involvement and lymph nodal spread among various age groups, younger patients had higher proportion of non clear cell RCC and only 48.59 per cent of them presented with conventional RCC. Mean survival was lower in patients younger than 39 yr with HR of 1.7 (0.8-3.2). INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: Our results showed that renal cell carcinoma was more frequent in younger people in India. One third of the patients were less than 50 yr of age and only 10.4 per cent patients had tumour of less than 4 cm (T1a). Younger patients of <39 yr of age had relatively lower survival rates.