Table 1. Included patients.
| Total | RANK/OPG >median | RANK/OPG <median | P-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Patient characteristics at initial diagnosis | ||||
| Mean age (years) | 60 | 60 | 61 | NS |
| Male | 71% (92/129) | 70% (45/64) | 72% (47/65) | NS |
| T-stage at diagnosis | ||||
| T1+T2 | 31% (40/127) | 33% (21/63) | 30% (19/64) | NS |
| T3+T4 | 69% (87/127) | 67% (42/63) | 70% (45/64) | NS |
| Metastasis at initial diagnosis | 52% (65/124) | 53% (31/59) | 52% (34/65) | NS |
| Fuhrman | ||||
| Grades 1–3 | 40% (52/129) | 30% (19/64) | 51% (33/65) | 0.015 |
| Grade 4 | 60% (77/129) | 70% (45/64) | 49% (32/65) | |
| Sarcomatoid dedifferentiation (Beuselinck et al, 2014) | ||||
| 0% | 66% (82/125) | 60% (37/62) | 73% (46/63) | 0.11 |
| 1–24% | 26% (32/125) | 27% (17/62) | 24% (15/63) | NS |
| ⩾25% | 8% (10/125) | 13% (8/62) | 3% (2/65) | 0.035 |
| ccRCC classification | ||||
| Ccrcc1 (c-myc-up) | 33% (38/116) | 50% (28/56) | 17% (10/60) | 0.0001 |
| Ccrcc2 (classical) | 41% (47/116) | 20% (11/56) | 60% (36/60) | <0.0001 |
| Ccrcc3 (normal like) | 12% (14/116) | 7% (4/56) | 17% (10/60) | 0.12 |
| Ccrcc4 (c-myc-up and immune-up) | 15% (17/116) | 23% (13/56) | 7% (4/60) | 0.012 |
|
Patient characteristics at start of anti-VEGFR-TKI | ||||
| Karnofsky performance status <80 | 12% (15/125) | 21% (13/62) | 3% (2/63) | 0.002 |
| Neutrophils >4.500 mm−3 | 43% (54/127) | 44% (28/63) | 41% (26/64) | NS |
| Platelets >400.000 mm−3 | 13% (17/127) | 13% (8/63) | 14% (9/64) | NS |
| Haemoglobin <11.5 g dl−1 (women) or <13 g dl−1 (men) | 41% (52/126) | 47% (29/62) | 36% (23/64) | NS |
| LDH>1.5 × ULN | 8% (9/120) | 8% (5/59) | 7% (4/61) | NS |
| Corrected calcium>10 mg dl−1 | 5% (6/119) | 7% (4/59) | 2% (1/60) | 0.16 |
| Time nephrectomy to systemic treatment <12 months | 66% (82/125) | 72% (44/61) | 59% (38/64) | 0.13 |
| Immunotherapy prior toanti-VEGFR-TKI | 26% (33/127) | 23% (14/62) | 29% (19/65) | NS |
| Site of metastasis | ||||
| Lung | 80% (103/129) | 84% (54/64) | 75% (49/65) | NS |
| Liver | 16% (20/129) | 17% (11/64) | 14% (9/65) | NS |
| Brain | 7% (9/129) | 11% (7/64) | 3% (2/65) | 0.08 |
| Bone | 29% (37/129) | 28% (18/64) | 29% (19/65) | NS |
| Mean number | 2.17 | 2.27 | 2.08 | NS |
| IMDC prognosis | ||||
| Favourable | 13% (16/122) | 10% (6/60) | 16% (10/62) | 0.31 |
| Intermediate | 60% (73/122) | 57% (34/60) | 63% (39/62) | NS |
| Poor | 27% (33/122) | 33% (20/60) | 21% (13/62) | 0.12 |
|
First-line TKI | ||||
| Sunitinib | 78% (101/129) | 78% (50/64) | 78% (51/65) | NS |
| Sorafenib | 11% (14/129) | 14% (9/64) | 8% (5/65) | NS |
| Pazopanib | 11% (14/129) | 8% (5/64) | 14% (9/65) | NS |
|
During the whole course of the disease | ||||
| Bone metastasis | 67% (87/129) | 86% (55/64) | 49% (32/65) | <0.0001 |
Abbreviations: Anti-VEGFR-TKI=Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor; NS=not significant (P⩾0.2); IMDC=International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium; ULN=upper limit of normal.
P-values were calculated with a Fisher exact test.