WEDNESDAY, Jan. 7 (HealthDay News) -- The presence of cytogenetic abnormalities in tumors from patients with renal cancer, particularly loss of chromosome 9p, can predict survival, according to a report published online Jan. 5 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Tobias Klatte, M.D., and colleagues from the University of California Los Angeles analyzed cytogenetic abnormalities in tumors from 282 patients who underwent nephrectomy for clear cell renal cell carcinoma and prospectively determined their association with prognosis.

The investigators found that during a mean follow-up of 25 months, 18 percent of patients died. Loss of 3p (60 percent of tumors) was associated with lower tumor grade and better survival, while loss of chromosome Y in males (55 percent) was associated with improved progression-free survival in metastatic patients. Loss of 14q (28 percent), loss of 4p (13 percent) and loss of 9p (16 percent) were associated with higher tumor stage, grade, size and poorer survival, the researchers report. After adjusting for other factors, loss of 9p remained an independent prognostic factor, the report indicates.

"This cytogenetic study serves as a proof of principal that genetic information, such as loss of chromosome 9, can be obtained from widely available technology, and can provide additional prognostic information to standard clinicopathologic variables," Klatte and colleagues conclude.

Abstract
Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)