Key clinical point: Study results suggest the definition of stage IV renal cell carcinoma should be expanded to include patients with lymph node-positive stage III disease.

Major finding: Five-year overall survival was similar between patients with node-positive stage III disease (22.7%) and stage IV disease (15.6%).

Study details: A retrospective cohort study of 8,988 patients with stage III-IV renal cell carcinoma who previously underwent nephrectomy and lymph node dissection.

Disclosures: The National Cancer Institute supported the study. Some authors disclosed relationships with pharmaceutical companies and other organizations for work performed outside of the current study.