Risk Factors for Brain Metastases in Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background. Patients with brain metastases (BM) from renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were considered to experience a poor prognosis. However, there is little knowledge on the risk factors for BM from RCC at diagnosis. This study was aimed at exploring the risk factors for patients with BM from RCC and the interaction among these risk factors. Methods. A total of 38759 cases of RCC were identified from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Risk factors for BM from RCC were evaluated by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Interaction effect between age and tumor size was tested. Results. There was a significant difference in univariate analysis, including T stage, tumor size, grades III and IV, lymph node metastasis, bone metastasis, liver metastasis, lung metastasis, and surgery. There was a significant difference in multivariate analysis, including age, T stage, tumor size<10 cm, grade IV, lymph node metastasis, bone metastasis, lung metastasis, and surgery. Patients older than 70 had 0.653-fold lower risk of developing BM compared with those younger than 70. Patients with tumor size≥4 cm and <10 cm had higher risk of developing BM compared with those