The spinal distribution of metastatic renal cell carcinoma: Support for locoregional rather than arterial hematogenous mode of early bony dissemination Journal Article


Authors: Attalla, K.; Duzgol, C.; McLaughlin, L.; Flynn, J.; Ostrovnaya, I.; Russo, P.; Bilsky, M. H.; Hakimi, A. A.; Moss, N. S.
Article Title: The spinal distribution of metastatic renal cell carcinoma: Support for locoregional rather than arterial hematogenous mode of early bony dissemination
Abstract: Background: Quantifying the degree to which spinal involvement of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) is a locoregional phenomenon vs. a hematogenous, bone-specific affinity has implications for prognosis and antimetastatic therapy. Objective: To investigate the distribution of spinal metastasis in mRCC and to explore relationships between clinical factors and patterns of spinal spread. Methods: Patients with mRCC and spinal involvement from June 2005 to November 2018 were identified. Clinical and biologic features including primary tumor size and degree of spinal and nonbony metastatic involvement were collected. Spinal distributions were evaluated by the permutation test, with the null hypothesis that metastases are distributed uniformly across levels. Results: One hundred patients with 685 spinal levels involved by mRCC were evaluated. A nonuniform spatial distribution was observed across the cohort (P < 0.001); a preponderance of thoracolumbar involvement was noted with the mode at L3. No significant deviation in metastatic distribution from uniform was observed in right- or left-sided tumors, subgroups of distant or local metastases, or histology. Patients with smaller tumors (<4 cm) and local spread had distribution of spinal metastases not significantly different from uniform (P = 0.292 and P = 0.126, respectively). Conclusions: These data support a dominant locoregional as opposed to arterial hematogenous mechanism for early spinal dissemination of mRCC. Characterizations of the biologic molecular features contributing to osseous tropism and aggressive tumor biology (as seen in the subset of outlier patients with small tumors who appear to have more uniform spread), have implications for surveillance and are an area of active investigation. © 2020 Elsevier Inc.
Keywords: renal cell carcinoma; spine; spinal metastasis; metastatic distribution
Journal Title: Urologic Oncology: Seminars and Original Investigations
Volume: 39
Issue: 3
ISSN: 1078-1439
Publisher: Elsevier Inc.  
Date Published: 2021-03-01
Start Page: 196.e9
End Page: 196.e14
Language: English
DOI: 10.1016/j.urolonc.2020.12.008
PUBMED: 33423935
PROVIDER: scopus
PMCID: PMC8237695
DOI/URL:
Notes: Article -- Export Date: 1 April 2021 -- Source: Scopus
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MSK Authors
  1. Paul Russo
    581 Russo
  2. Mark H Bilsky
    319 Bilsky
  3. Abraham Ari Hakimi
    324 Hakimi
  4. Nelson Moss
    88 Moss
  5. Jessica Flynn
    182 Flynn
  6. Cihan Duzgol
    19 Duzgol
  7. Kyrollis Attalla
    19 Attalla