Prognosis of metastatic renal adenocarcinoma.

The prognosis for metastatic renal adenocarcinoma is evaluated on the basis of a consecutive series of 99 initially metastatic patients and 79 patients who developed distant metastases after radical nephrectomy. Patients with only osseous metastases survived longer, but the differences in survival between these and patients with metastases at other sites were not statistically significant. The survival for patients who developed metastases after a disease-free interval of less than 6 months was significantly lower than for others. A solitary distant metastasis was removed from 7 patients and in 4 of these cases no recurrence has been observed during 1 to 9 years' follow-up. In 54% of patients with distant metastases cytostatic agents or hormones or both in combination were administered. Only two partial responses were demonstrated, both concerning pulmonary metastases. Radiation therapy had an appreciable effect in relieving pain resulting from osseous metastases.