Postoperative Better Than Preoperative C-reactive Protein at Predicting Outcome After Potentially Curative Nephrectomy for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Postoperative, not preoperative, CRP is the better predictor of metastasis and mortality following nephrectomy for localized RCC. Clinicians should consider absolute postoperative CRP to identify high-risk patients for closer surveillance or additional therapy. Predictive algorithms should consider incorporating postoperative CRP as a continuous variable to maximize predictive ability.