Survival Analysis of Pathological T3a Upstaging in Clinical T1 Renal Cell Carcinoma

AIM: To evaluate the oncological outcomes of pathological T3a upstaging from clinical T1 renal cell carcinoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We retrospectively studied patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy for clinical T1 renal tumors. RESULTS: The median follow-up period was 44 months. At three and five years, the respective overall survival rate was 88.7% and 82.4% in pT3a disease, 95.7% and 93.4% in pT1 (p=0.008), the cancer-specific survival rate, 93.9% and 90.8% in pT3a, 99% and 97.7% in pT1 (p=0.001), and the recurrence-free survival rate, 79.7% and 71.0% in pT3a, and 95.5 and 94.3% in pT1 (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Patients with pathological T3a upstaging tumors were associated with a significantly decreased survival rate, along with a higher recurrence rate when compared to those with pathological T1 disease.