e16532 Background: Traditional survival metrics may underestimate the burden of premature death. Potential years of life lost (PYLL) quantifies years lost due to early mortality. We evaluated PYLL in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and assessed the influence of demographic, socioeconomic, and tumor-related factors. Methods: This retrospective population-based study used SEER 17 data (2000–2019). Adults who died from RCC were included (N = 30,850). RCC cases were identified using ICD-O-3 histology codes 8310, 8312, 8260, 8317, 8319, and 8320. PYLL was calculated as the difference between age at death and a reference age of 75 years, consistent with established cancer burden studies. Generalized linear models (GLM) with Gamma family distribution and log link were used for primary analysis; exponentiated coefficients represent percent change in PYLL. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression provided absolute year estimates. Covariates included race/ethnicity, sex, income quantile, AJCC stage, tumor grade, and histologic subtype. All analyses were performed using Python 3.14 with statsmodels and pandas libraries. Results: In this study, the mean PYLL was 11.7 years per death from renal cell carcinoma, with significant racial/ethnic disparities persisting even after multivariable adjustment for clinical and demographic factors. Compared to non-Hispanic Whites, Black patients had 20.3% higher PYLL (+2.56 years; P0.001), Hispanic patients had 18.6% higher PYLL (+2.32 years; P0.001), Asian patients had 10.4% higher PYLL (+1.30 years; P0.001), and American Indian patients had 10.4% higher PYLL (+1.38 years; P = 0.003). Males had 4.5% higher PYLL than females (+0.55 years; P0.001). Income quantile was not significantly associated with PYLL (Q2 vs Q1: P = 0.251; Q3 vs Q1: P = 0.787). Stage IV disease had 7.0% higher PYLL than Stage I (+0.92 years; P0.001), while Stage II (−7.7%; P = 0.002) and Stage III (−5.1%; P = 0.001) had lower PYLL. Grade IV tumors had 21.0% higher PYLL than Grade II (+2.62 years; P0.001), Grade III had 11.2% higher PYLL (+1.42 years; P0.001), and Grade I had 6.0% lower PYLL (−0.70 years; P = 0.002). Among histologic subtypes, collecting duct carcinoma (8319) had the highest PYLL (+34.0%, +4.71 years; P0.001), followed by granular cell (8320; +15.4%, +1.98 years; P = 0.002), RCC-NOS (8312; +7.2%, +0.93 years; P0.001), and papillary (8260; +3.8%, +0.51 years; P = 0.022). Conclusions: Substantial racial/ethnic disparities in PYLL from RCC persist after multivariable adjustment, with Black and Hispanic patients experiencing disproportionately greater premature mortality. Income did not explain these disparities, implicating factors such as access to care, treatment quality, and tumor biology. These findings underscore the need for targeted interventions to reduce premature cancer deaths in high-risk populations.
Kothari et al. (Thu,) studied this question.