PURPOSEThis report is a patterns-of-failure analysis of resected renal cell carcinoma (RCC) performed to determine the relative incidences of local failure (LF) and distant failure, to identify the pathologic features predicting for each using a multivariate analysis, and to assess the relative impact of each form of failure on overall survival (OS). In this way, the potential value of and selection of patients for adjuvant local and/or systemic therapy can be better evaluated.MATERIALS AND METHODSThe records of 172 patients with unilateral, nonmetastatic RCC who were treated with definitive surgery between 1978 and 1988, and who had a minimum follow-up duration of 1 year, were identified through the Memorial Sloan-Kettering tumor registry. Distribution by stage included T1, 10 patients; T2, 102; T3a, 32; T3b, 27; and T4, one. The incidences of positive lymph nodes (LNs) and positive margins were 5.8% and 6.4%, respectively.RESULTSLF developed in only six patients, yielding a 7-year actuarial incidence of...