Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 May;135(5):818-827.
doi: 10.1111/bju.16609. Epub 2024 Dec 4.

Is there a minimum percentage of sarcomatoid component required to affect outcomes of localised renal cell carcinoma?

Mustafa Soytas  1 , Alice Dragomir  1 , Ghady Bou-Nehme Sawaya  2 , Charles Hesswani  1 , Maude Tanguay  1 , Antonio Finelli  3 , Lori Wood  4 , Ricardo Rendon  5 , Rahul Bansal  6 , Aly-Khan Lalani  7 , Daniel Y C Heng  8 , Bimal Bhindi  9 , Naveen S Basappa  10 , Lucas Dean  11 , Alan So  12 , Jasmir G Nayak  13 , Georg Bjarnason  14 , Rodney Breau  15 , Luke Lavallee  15 , Jean-Baptiste Lattouf  16 , Frederic Pouliot  17 , Michael Bonert  18 , Simon Tanguay  1
Affiliations

Is there a minimum percentage of sarcomatoid component required to affect outcomes of localised renal cell carcinoma?

Mustafa Soytas et al. BJU Int. 2025 May.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate and compare the outcomes of patients with localised renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with and without sarcomatoid features and the impact of this on cancer recurrence and survival.

Material and methods: The Canadian Kidney Cancer information system database was used to identify patients diagnosed with localised RCC between January 2011 and December 2022. Patients with pT1-T3, n Nx-N0N1, M0 stage and documented sarcomatoid status were included. Patients with sarcomatoid RCC were categorised according to the sarcomatoid component percentage (%Sarc). Inverse probability of treatment weighting scores were used to balance the groups. Cox proportional hazards models were used to assess the impact of sarcomatoid status and %Sarc on recurrence-free and overall survival.

Results: A total of 6660 patients (201 with and 6459 without sarcomatoid features) with non-metastatic RCC were included. %Sarc data were available in 155 patients, and the median value was 10%. The weighted analysis revealed that the presence of sarcomatoid features was associated with an increased risk of developing metastasis and increased risk of mortality compared to absence of sarcomatoid features. A %Sarc value >10 was associated with an increased risk of developing metastasis and of mortality compared to a %Sarc value ≤10.

Conclusions: Patients with a %Sarc >10 have an increased risk of recurrence and mortality. These patients may benefit from a more stringent follow-up and %Sarc could represent an important criterion in the risk assessment for adjuvant therapy.

Keywords: inverse probability of treatment weighting; kidney cancer; kidney neoplasms; nephrectomy; sarcomatoid.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Number of included patients.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Direct adjusted survival curves in the weighted cohorts. Recurrence‐free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) for (A) patients without sarcomatoid features and patients with a sarcomatoid component percentage (%Sarc) of (B) ≤15/>15, (C) ≤10/>10, and (D) ≤5/>5, respectively. NR, not reached.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sung H, Ferlay J, Siegel RL et al. Global Cancer Statistics 2020: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin 2021; 71: 209–249 - PubMed
    1. Kassouf W, Monteiro LL, Drachenberg DE et al. Canadian Urological Association guideline for followup of patients after treatment of non‐metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Can Urol Assoc J 2018; 12: 231–238 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ljungberg B, Albiges L, Abu‐Ghanem Y et al. European Association of Urology guidelines on renal cell carcinoma: the 2022 update. Eur Urol 2022; 82: 399–410 - PubMed
    1. Conant JL, Peng Z, Evans MF, Naud S, Cooper K. Sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma is an example of epithelial‐mesenchymal transition. J Clin Pathol 2011; 64: 1088–1092 - PubMed
    1. Blum KA, Gupta S, Tickoo SK et al. Sarcomatoid renal cell carcinoma: biology, natural history and management. Nat Rev Urol 2020; 17: 659–678 - PMC - PubMed