Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Complex Therapeutic Challenge in the Elderly

An increase in age and the occurrence of renal cell carcinoma have been positively correlated. A strict therapeutic protocol for early diagnosis, screening, prevention, and population awareness needs to be well-established as a rationale to approach the morbidity at a treatment-eligible phase in the aged. Genetic predisposition appears to have a minor role in the disease pathology. Imaging modalities, providing high-resolution images of the tumor, have undoubtedly benefitted the diseased subset in aiding the diagnosis, however, a preliminary guideline protocol for its early implication in concordance with the initial symptoms needs to be adopted. Burdening of the geriatric age group by concomitant co-morbidities further deteriorates the devastating effects of the primary tumor, which, in total, appear to evolve as a final, complex stage of the illness in the majority, leading to an eventual high mortality rate. Despite being a challenging task for managing the tumor, age should not be considered the sole treatment barrier for approaching the disease.