BACKGROUND: This population study aimed to identify suitable candidates for cytoreductive nephrectomy in patients with metastatic sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from the US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Demographic and clinical data from 1,229 patients with metastatic sarcomatoid RCC were retrieved from the SEER database. Patients were divided into the cytoreductive nephrectomy group (n=937) and the no surgery group (n=292). Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified factors associated with overall survival (OS) and propensity score matching identified factors that significantly impacted the OS. Survival of propensity score-matched subgroups of patients with metastatic sarcomatoid RCC treated by cytoreductive nephrectomy or no surgery was determined by the Kaplan–Meier method and compared by the log-rank test.

RESULTS: Of the 1,229 patients with metastatic sarcomatoid RCC retrieved from the SEER database, age, tumor size, T stage, and N stage were independent risk factors for patient survival. There were no significant differences in age, N stage, and tumor size between the cytoreductive nephrectomy-treated and non-surgically treated T stage cases following propensity score matching. OS benefits were found in cases with stage T1 (12 months increase), T2 (7.5 months increase), T3a (2 months increase), and T4 (3 months increase), but not in the T3b or T3c subgroups treated by cytoreductive nephrectomy, compared with patients with no surgical treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: Data from the SEER database showed that cytoreductive nephrectomy improved OS in patients with T1 and T2 metastatic sarcomatoid RCC with a significant long-term survival benefit of >6 months.

Keywords: Carcinoma, Renal Cell, Nephrectomy, SEER Program, Cytoreduction Surgical Procedures, Databases, Factual, Genetics, Population, Kidney Neoplasms, propensity score, Risk Factors