Today's News

Saturday, March 18, 2000

Aggressive therapy benefits renal cell carcinoma patients

Renal cell carcinoma patients who are disease-free more than 12 months between diagnosis of the primary tumor and diagnosis of the osseous tumor have significantly longer survival and would be more likely to benefit from more aggressive therapy, according to a study presented in scientific exhibit 9 by co-author Jason W. Thackeray, MD, a resident at University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainsville.

"The purpose of our study was to identify prognostic factors for treatment of secondary osseous metastasis to aid the orthopaedist in determining whether aggressive or palliative therapy would provide greatest benefit to the patient."

Forty-five patients with renal cell carcinoma with osseous metastases were studied. Patient age, treatment of primary tumor, time interval from the time of primary diagnosis to development of bony metastasis, site and treatment of metastasis, and presence or absence of local recurrence or subsequent metastasis were recorded. Survival curves for each of the above factors were compared using the Log-Rank test.

Patients were divided into three groups: those who presented with concurrent primary and osseous tumor; those who were diagnosed with osseous tumor less than 12 months after diagnosis of primary tumor; and those who were disease-free for at least 12 months before the diagno-sis of osseous tumor. The group which had been disease free for more than 12 months had a significantly better survival rate (p <0.001).

Co-authors of the study with Dr. Thackeray are Mark T. Scarborough, MD, associate professor and Jonathan G. Roper, medical student, both at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

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2000 Academy News March 18 Index B

Last modified 18/March/2000 by IS