Impact of Comorbidity on Overall Survival in Patients Surgically Treated for Renal Cell Carcinoma

OBJECTIVES: While the classification of cancer has traditionally focused on gross and microscopic characteristics of the tumor, overall health of a patient can impact survival. Since patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) often have other medical conditions, we explored the impact of preexisting medical disease on survival following radical and partial nephrectomy. METHODS: Between January 1995 and August 2003, comorbidity status of 697 nonmetastatic RCC patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy was prospectively coded using the Adult Comorbidity Evaluation-27. Histopathologic review of all slides was performed according to the 2004 World Health Organization scheme. Other variables analyzed include age, gender, ethnicity, pathologic stage, Fuhrman grade, and tumor size. The effect of these factors on overall survival (OS) was analyzed using Cox Proportional Hazards Regression. RESULTS: The median follow-up was 32.2 months for survivors and 36.5 months for all patients. OS rate at 1, 3, and 5 years was 92.0% (641 patients), 75.3% (525 patients) and 52.7% (367 patients). Univariate analyses demonstrated that age, comorbidity, tumor size, Fuhrman grade, and pathologic stage were significant predictors of OS. Multivariate analysis revealed that age (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.10–1.82, p=0.0067), comorbidity (HR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63, p=0.0002), pathologic stage (HR 1.97, 95% CI 1.60–2.41, p<0.0001) and grade (HR 1.83, 95% CI 1.28–2.59, p=0.0008) predicted OS. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates that comorbidity is an independent prognostic factor for OS in RCC patients. Capturing comorbidity information using validated instruments can improve the preoperative evaluation of patients by providing more accurate prognostic information