Key clinical point: Red cell distribution width before treatment might be a quick and easy method for predicting cancer-specific survival in patients who undergo nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Pretreatment red cell distribution width was associated with tumor necrosis and might be useful in the assessment of tumor aggressiveness.

Major finding: There were no differences between subjects with high and low red cell distribution width in terms of sex, age, body mass index, histological type of tumor, frequency of partial nephrectomy, and TNM stage. Patients with high red cell distribution width had significantly lower hematocrit, hemoglobin level, and red blood cell count. Tumor necrosis and larger tumor size were significantly more prevalent in the group of patients with high red cell distribution width. Cancer-specific survival was significantly lower in patients with red cell distribution width of 13.9% or more as compared with patients with red cell distribution width of less than 13.9%.

Study details: A study of 434 patients with pathologically proven RCC treated with radical or partial nephrectomy over a 10-year period in a single tertiary academic center. Patients were divided into 2 groups, with low and high red cell distribution width according to the optimal cutoff value, which was determined according to a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Median follow-up was 2146 days.

Disclosures: The authors have stated that they have no conflicts of interest.

Source: Życzkowski M et al. Clinical Genitourinary Surgery 2018 June (16), e677-e683. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clgc.2017.12.003