Abstract
Marital status is an independent prognostic factor for various cancer types. The present study used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to analyze the impact of marital status on renal cancer patient survival outcomes. We identified a total of 62,405 eligible patients (23,800 women and 38,605 men). Overall 5-year renal cancer cause-specific survival (CSS) was 80.3% in the married group, 69.2% in the widowed group, 78.9% in the single group, and 76.5% in the divorced/separated group. The widowed patient group had the highest female/male ratio, more distant metastases, and fewer high-grade (III/IV) tumors. Most widowed patients (90.4%) were elderly (>60 years old). In our study, male renal cancer patients benefited more from marriage than females. We also found that white married patients had better survival outcomes than other white patient groups, but black unmarried and married patients exhibited similar survival outcomes. Our results show that, in general, unmarried patients have higher rates of cancer-specific mortality and highlight the importance of psychological intervention for cancer patients during treatment.
Highlights
Renal cancer causes 140,000 deaths per year, and is the seventh most common cancer in the world [1]
We found that white married patients had better survival outcomes than other white patient groups, but black unmarried and married patients exhibited similar survival outcomes
We collected data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer-registry program, including individuals diagnosed with renal carcinoma between 2004 and 2013, and explored the impact of marital status on renal cancer patient cause-specific survival (CSS)
Summary
Renal cancer causes 140,000 deaths per year, and is the seventh most common cancer in the world [1]. While most renal cancers are localized, low-grade tumors, nearly 17% of patients had distant metastases at the time of diagnosis [2]. Several factors, such as smoking tobacco [3], hypertension [4], obesity [5, 6], and red meat consumption [7], are associated with renal cancer progression. Married status may be associated with improved social support, higher income, and healthier behaviors, which might improve cancer patient rehabilitation results [11– 14]. We collected data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) cancer-registry program, including individuals diagnosed with renal carcinoma between 2004 and 2013, and explored the impact of marital status on renal cancer patient cause-specific survival (CSS)
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