Association between age and clinical characteristics of renal cell carcinoma in adult patients

Aim:  To study the association between age and clinical characteristics of renal cell carcinoma in adult patients. Methods:  Three hundred and ten patients with renal cell carcinoma were classified into three groups: ≤40 years group, 41–59 years group and ≥60 years group. The clinical characteristics of the three groups were compared to define the association. Results:  The male/female ratio was 1.3/1, 2.0/1, 3.3/1 in the three groups, respectively, and a significant difference appeared when comparing the ≤40 years group to the ≥60 years group (P = 0.010). The respective percentage of incidental renal cell carcinoma was 27.9%, 43.2%, 31.2%, and it was significantly higher in the 41–59 years group than the ≥60 years group (P = 0.047). The incidence of poorly differentiated renal cell carcinoma decreased with age increasing (11.6% vs 5.2% vs 2.7%), and there was significant difference between the ≤40 years group and the ≥60 years group (P = 0.038). In the ≤40 years group, the incidence of lymph node metastasis was 18.6%, which was significantly higher than the other two groups (P < 0.05). The percentage of T3a tumors was lower in ≤40 years group and the percentage of T1−3aN0M0 tumors was significantly higher in the 41–59 years group. Conclusions:  The percentage of female patients decreases with increasing age. The higher percentage of incidental renal cell carcinoma leads to the higher percentage of T1−3aN0M0 tumors in middle-aged patients. The higher percentage of poorly differentiated renal cell carcinoma led to the higher incidence of lymph node metastasis and decreased percentage of T3aN0M0 tumors in younger patients.