The role of cytoreductive nephrectomy in renal cell carcinoma patients with liver metastasis

Abstract

It is widely accepted that renal cell carcinoma with liver metastasis carries a dismal prognosis. We aimed to explore the value of cytoreductive nephrectomy among these patients. Patients were extracted from the SEER database between 2010 and 2017. The univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards models were conducted to select the prognostic predictors of survival. Patients were divided into nephrectomy and non-nephrectomy groups. Propensity score-matching analyses were applied to reduce the above factors’ differences between the groups. Overall survival was compared by Kaplan-Meier (K-M) analyses. Data from 683 patients was extracted from the database. The univariate Cox regression and multivariate Cox regression revealed that factors including age, histologic type, T and N stages, lung metastasis, brain metastasis, and nephrectomy were significant predictors of survival in the patients. After the propensity score-matching analyses, we found that nephrectomy prolonged overall survival. Nephrectomy can prolong overall survival in eligible renal cell carcinoma patients with liver metastasis.