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Purpose: The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) has become unclear since the introduction of targeted therapies (TT). We sought to evaluate contemporary utilization rates of CN and to examine the survival benefit of CN compared with non-CN patients treated with TT., Methods: We used the National Cancer Data Base to identify patients with clinical mRCC treated with TT between 2006 and 2013. The intervention of interest was CN. Multivariable logistic regression predicting receipt of CN was performed. Overall survival (OS) was examined using Cox regression models and incremental survival analyses were performed. Sensitivity analyses using propensity scores were conducted., Results: Of 15,390 patients treated with TT, 5,374 (35%) underwent CN between 2006 and 2013. Patients who were younger, privately insured, treated at an academic center, and had lower tumor stage and cN0 disease were more likely to undergo CN. The median OS of CN versus non-CN patients was 17.1 (95% CI, 16.3 to 18.0 months) versus 7.7 months (95% CI, 7.4 to 7.9 months; P < .001). In sensitivity analyses using propensity scores adjustment in addition to other available covariates, CN patients had a lower risk of any death (hazard ratio, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.40 to 0.50; P < .001). The survival benefit of CN was +0.7 and +3.6 months in patients who survived ≤ 6 and ≤ 24 months, respectively, versus no CN., Conclusion: CN is performed in three of 10 patients with mRCC who are receiving TT. Several patient and sociodemographic characteristics were associated with receipt of CN. When feasible, CN may offer an OS benefit when combined with TT., Competing Interests: Authors’ disclosures of potential conflicts of interest are found in the article online at www.jco.org. Author contributions are found at the end of this article., (© 2016 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)

Objectives: Local tumor destruction (LTD) is a recommended therapy alternative for localized T1 renal cell carcinoma for patients who are unfit for surgery. We examined patterns of use and complication rates of LTD in a large population-based cohort., Materials and Methods: Overall, data for 5,285 patients undergoing LTD for renal cell carcinoma were extracted from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample database from 2006 to 2010. We assessed patient and hospital characteristics, as well as postoperative complications, using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes. The effect of patient and hospital characteristics on peri-interventional complications (overall or specific) was tested using univariable or multivariable logistic regression models., Results: Most patients were male (61.2%), aged 71 to 80 years (34.9%), and had 3 or more comorbidities (30.6%). Most LTDs were performed at urban (93.5%), teaching (57.7%), and low-volume (75.7%) hospitals. Overall complications were recorded in 15.4% of patients. In multivariable analyses adjusted for clustering, overall complications occurred more frequently in older, sicker patients who were treated at low-volume hospitals (all P<0.05). Similar results were recorded when each complication category was addressed individually., Conclusions: In the current population-based cohort, complications of LTD occurred in 1 of 6 patients and were more frequent in individuals with advanced age or multiple comorbidities, or both, especially if LTDs were performed at lower-volume hospitals., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Our objective was to test whether Fuhrman grade [corrected] (FG) is applicable in the context of chromophobe renal cell carcinoma patients treated with partial and radical nephrectomy. Patients (n=1862) with chromophobe renal cell carcinoma treated with partial and radical nephrectomy were identified within the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (1988-2008). Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analyses were fitted to predict cancer-specific mortality. Discriminant properties were assessed for the conventional four-tiered FG scheme. Additionally, discrimination of the three-tiered FG scheme (1-2 vs 3 vs 4) and the two-tiered FG scheme (1-2 vs 3-4) was also assessed. The statistical significance of the differences in accuracy estimates was compared using the Mantel-Haenszel test. A total of 65 of the 1862 died of the disease. The overall 5-year cancer-specific mortality-free survival rate was 94.8% (95% confidence interval: 93.5-96.2). In univariable analyses, none of the FG strata were significantly associated with cancer-specific mortality. Furthermore, FG was less informative (63%) than tumor size (72%) and tumor stage (69%), using measures of discrimination in univariable analyses. After accounting for all covariates, prediction of 5-year cancer-specific mortality was 79.0% vs 80.3% accurate, respectively, with vs without the consideration of FG (P=0.01). Similar discrimination estimates were obtained for the modified three-tiered FG scheme (78.5%; P=0.009) and the modified two-tiered FG scheme (79.5%; P=0.02). In conclusion, FG is not an informative predictor of prognosis, defined as cancer-specific mortality, after partial and radical nephrectomy for chromophobe renal cell carcinoma patients.

Background: To provide an updated review of adverse events associated with sunitinib, pazopanib, bevacizumab, temsirolimus, axitinib, everolimus and sorafenib and their management., Materials and Methods: We performed a PubMed and Cochrane-based review of side effects associated with the seven agents including product monographs to provide an outline of treatment measures aiming to reduce their toxicities. Subject and outcome of interest, design type, sample size, pertinence and quality, and detail of reporting were the indicators of manuscript quality., Results: All targeted therapies cause adverse events. Most adverse events may be prevented or tested before they escalate to severe levels., Conclusion: Prevention, early recognition, and prompt management of side effects are of key importance and avoid unnecessary dose reductions, which may undermine treatment efficacy., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Objective: To quantify the effect of partial nephrectomy (PN) vs radical nephrectomy (RN) on other-cause mortality (OCM) in elderly patients with localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and/or multiple comorbidities., Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare-linked database, patients with T1 RCC, aged ≥75 years, or who had ≥2 comorbidities, were identified (1988-2005). To adjust for inherent differences between treatment types, propensity-based matched analyses were performed. Competing-risks regression analyses for prediction of OCM were assessed according to treatment type. The effect of PN and RN on OCM was examined in three sub-groups: patients aged ≥75 years; patients with ≥2 comorbidities; and patients aged ≥75 years with ≥2 comorbidities., Results: After propensity-based matched analyses and adjustment for all covariates, PN was found to exert a protective effect relative to RN with respect to OCM in all patients (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.84, P = 0.048). In subanalyses, no difference was recorded between PN and RN in patients who were aged ≥75 years (HR: 0.83, P = 0.2), with ≥2 baseline comorbidities at diagnosis (HR: 0.83, P = 0.1), or in patients who were aged ≥75 years and who had ≥2 baseline comorbidities (HR: 0.77, P = 0.2)., Conclusions: Some elderly patients and/or those with multiple comorbidities at diagnosis may not benefit from PN with respect to OCM. After rigorous patient selection, alternative treatment options could be considered., (© 2012 BJU International.)

Objective: To test whether cancer control outcomes justify the consideration of partial nephrectomy in patients with large tumors (Stage pT2 or greater) or high-grade tumors (Fuhrman grade III-IV) or lesions extending beyond the kidney (Stage pT3a)., Methods: We abstracted the data for 8847, 11 547, and 5232 patients with tumors >7 cm, Fuhrman grade III-IV, and Stage T3a from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, respectively. All were treated with either partial nephrectomy or radical nephrectomy from 1988 to 2008. The 2- and 5-year cancer-specific mortality rates were compared between the partial nephrectomy and radical nephrectomy groups after propensity score matching. Separate multivariate analyses were conducted within each subcohort and specifically quantified the effect of partial nephrectomy on cancer-specific mortality., Results: For each of the 3 examined groups, the patients treated with partial nephrectomy failed to demonstrate statistically significant cancer-specific mortality differences relative to radical nephrectomy patients. The hazard ratio for the tumors >7 cm, Fuhrman grade III-IV, and Stage pT3a was 0.67 (95% confidence interval 0.39-1.17, P = .2), 0.81 (95% confidence interval 0.58-1.12, P = .21), and 0.99 (95% confidence interval 0.61-1.61, P = 1.0)., Conclusion: Even in patients with adverse pathologic features, partial nephrectomy does not compromise cancer-specific mortality. This implies that when functional outcomes are considered in patients with high-risk features, the decision to perform partial nephrectomy should not depend on the stage or grade, but rather on the technical ability to remove the tumor with a negative margin and provide sufficient functional renal remnant., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Partial nephrectomy (PN) may better protect against other-cause mortality (OCM) when compared with radical nephrectomy (RN) in patients with localized renal cell carcinoma (RCC)., Objective: Test the effect of treatment type on OCM., Design, Setting, and Participants: Using the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results-Medicare-linked database, 4956 RN patients (82%) and 1068 PN patients (18%) with T1a RCC were identified (1988-2005)., Measurements: To adjust for inherent differences between treatment types, we relied on propensity-matched analyses. One-to-one matching was performed according to age, sex, race, baseline Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), baseline diagnosis of hypercalcemia and hyperlipidemia, socioeconomic status (SES), population density, tumor size, and year of surgery. The 2- and 5-yr OCM rates were computed using cumulative incidence. Univariable and multivariable competing-risks regression analyses for prediction of OCM were performed according to treatment type. Adjustment was made for cancer-specific mortality (CSM), patient age, CCI, sex, race, SES, tumor grade, and year of surgery., Results and Limitations: Following propensity-based matching, 1068 RN patients were matched with 1068 PN patients. The 2- and 5-yr OCM rates after nephrectomy were 5.0% and 16.0% for PN versus 6.9% and 18.1% for RN, respectively. In the postpropensity multivariable analyses, patients who underwent PN were significantly less likely to die of OCM compared with their RN-treated counterparts (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.83; 95% confidence interval, 0.69-0.98; p=0.04). Increasing age (HR: 1.08, p<0.001), higher CCI (HR: 1.14, p<0.001), female gender (HR: 0.79, p=0.02), baseline hypercalcemia (HR: 2.05, p=0.03), baseline hyperlipidemia (HR: 0.73, p=0.003), and year of surgery (HR: 0.95, p=0.003) were independent predictors of OCM., Conclusions: Compared with PN-treated patients, RN-treated patients are more likely to die of OCM after surgery, even after adjusting for CSM, as well as baseline CCI. Consequently, PN should be offered whenever technically feasible., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)