Outcome of renal tumors in young adults.

PURPOSE Sporadic RCC is rare in young adults. We retrospectively reviewed the outcomes of patients 20 to 40 years old at our institution. MATERIALS AND METHODS Between 1975 and 2004, 2,710 patients were treated surgically for renal masses at our institution. We found 120 patients (4.4%) 20 to 40 years old. We analyzed the clinical presentation, pathological characteristics and outcome of these patients, and compared it to patients older than 40 years. RESULTS The mean age of 120 young adults was 34.1 years (range 20.4 to 39.8). Symptomatic presentation was documented in 49.5% of patients. RCC was found in 87 (72.5%) young adults. Young patients generally had a higher rate of organ confined tumors than patients older than 40 years (73.6% vs 59.3%, p <0.05). Histopathological characteristics, tumor size, lymph node metastases and distant metastatic disease did not differ significantly in young and older patients. Women were significantly more likely to have benign lesions (41% vs 20%, p <0.05). Mean followup for 120 patients was 80.6 months and 15 of 87 patients with RCC (17.2%) died of tumor related causes (mean followup 27.5 months). The 10-year cancer specific survival rate was 78% in young adults and 68% in older patients (p = 0.22). Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed lymph node metastases and tumor differentiation grade as independent prognostic parameters in young patients. CONCLUSIONS Young patients are more likely to have symptomatic tumors at presentation. Nevertheless, they have more favorable pathological features and a definite trend to superior disease specific survival following surgical treatment. Organ sparing surgery should be considered in young women since benign lesions are frequent found in this population.