Clinical characteristics of renal cancer in Malaysia : a ten year review

Renal cancer is rare and its incidence is 1.9 per 100,000 in the Malaysian population, which consists of three major ethnic groups (Malay, Chinese and Indians). A retrospective study was her conducted to identify clinical characteristics and ethnic background influences on presentation. The study included all renal cancer patients from a single medical institution over ten years, with a total of 75 cases. Seventy-three patients underwent surgery while 2 received only radiotherapy or chemotherapy. The male to female ratio was 2.75:1. Incidence was equal among the Malay (49.3%) and Chinese ethnic groups (45.3%). Mean age of patients were 57.1 (18-93) years old. There were 26 (37.4%) patients with Stage I disease, 14 (18.7%) at Stage II, 23 (30.7%) at Stage III and 12 (16%) at Stage IV. The Chinese race presented at mean older age (p= 0.02) and later stage of disease (p= 0.046). Patients above 40 years old had more advanced stage disease (p= 0.023). Tumour histology were clear cell (72%), urothelial cell (13.3%), sarcomatoid cell and nephroblastoma each contributed 2.7%. The mean tumour size was 8.1 (2-20) cm. There was substantial agreement between the pre and post operative staging (kappa 0.691). In conclusion we observed significant influences of age and race in the clinical presentation of renal cancer in our institution based population. There was larger male to female ratio and mean tumour size as compared to previous epidemiology studies.