Background: Radical nephrectomy is widely accepted as the default management option for patients with T3 renal cell carcinoma (RCC). However, it may require a certain time before surgery for various reasons. There are concerns that the delay in surgery may affect postoperative outcomes. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of surgical wait time on survival in patients with T3 RCC. Methods: We retrospectively selected 138 patients with T3 RCC who underwent radical surgery between July 2009 and December 2019. Surgical wait time was defined as the period from initial imaging diagnosis to surgery. Patients were divided into the following 2 groups according to wait time: short-wait group(≤60 days), and long-wait group (>60 days). The clinical and pathological characteristics were evaluated. The overall survival (OS), cancer-specific survival (CSS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) of each group were calculated and compared. Age, gender, interval, tumor size, pathological grade, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (ECOG PS), surgical approach, year of surgery, and pathological type were included in the multivariable model. Results: This study included 91 male (65.9%) and 47 female (34.1%) patients. The median age of all patients was 60 years (interquartile range [IQR] 52-68 years). The median body mass index is 22.2 kg/m2 (IQR 18.9-24.7 kg/m2). There were 128 patients (92.8%) with pT3a disease and 10 patients (7.3%) with pT3b disease. The median surgical wait time for all patients was 16 days (IQR 10-77 days). The median surgical wait time of the short- and long-wait groups was 12 days (IQR 8-16 days) and 92 days (IQR 79-115 days), respectively. Until the last follow-up, 54 patients died. Among them, 49 patients (90.7%) died of tumor-related causes, and 5 patients (9.3%) died of other causes. There are 1 and 4 cases in the short-wait and long-wait groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in gender, ECOG PS, American society of anesthesiologists score, Charlson comorbidity index, clinical T stage, clinical N stage, and body mass index. And there were no significant differences in tumor size, surgical approach, year of surgery, pathological type, tumor grade, pathological T stage, pathological N stage, and venous involvement between the 2 groups. OS, CSS, and RFS were compared. The 5-year OS of the short- and long-wait time groups were 65.0% and 40.9%, respectively (P = .030). The 5-year CSS rates of the short- and long-wait time groups were 68.7% and 51.5%, respectively (P = .012). The 5-year RFS rates of the short- and long-wait time groups were 61.5% and 46.8%, respectively (P = .119). Multivariable analysis revealed that surgical wait time interval and tumor size were independent risk factors for OS and that wait time was also an independent risk factor for CCS. Conclusion: Delay in radical surgery beyond 60 days can negatively affect OS in patients with T3 RCC.
Keywords: T3 stage; prognosis; renal cell carcinoma; wait time.