Objective To investigate the clinical features and prognosis of paraneoplastic syndromes (PNS) in patients with renal carcinoma.
Methods The clinical data and follow-up results of 464 patients with surgically and pathologically confirmed renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were retrospectively reviewed.
Results Of these RCC cases, PNS was identified in 156 patients (33.6%) and manifested as anemia (26.3%, 41/156), hypertension (24.4%, 38/156), fever (21.8%, 34/156), polycythemia (19.2%, 30/156), Stauffer's syndrome (17.3%, 27/156), fatigue, weight loss, and anorexia (15.4%, 24/156), high erythrocyte sedimentation rate (12.8%, 20/156), leukocytosis (8.3%, 13/156), hypercalcemia (5.1%, 8/156). The average diameter of tumors was 5.5 cm in these 156 patients and was 4.7 cm in the remaining patients (P < 0.01).
Conclusion The incidence of RCC is about 33.6% in patients with renal carcinoma, and the morbidity may be associated with the tumor stages.