The Usefulness of Chest X-Rays for T1a Renal Cell Carcinoma Surveillance

Is chest imaging needed as part of pT1a renal cell carcinoma surveillance after surgical resection?

INTRODUCTION

Following surgical excision of pT1a renal cell carcinoma (RCC), 2% to 5% will recur, with 50% to 60% being lung metastases. The ideal surveillance strategy to identify recurrences is unclear. Guidelines are mixed, with NCCN and AUA recommending surveillance via chest x-ray (CXR) at least annually for 5 years, while EAU guidelines do not specifically recommend the use of CXR. In an effort to clarify the utility of surveillance CXR, we retrospectively evaluated pT1a patients following surgical treatment at a single institution.

METHODS

We performed retrospective analysis of unique patients who underwent surgical excision of pT1 RCC between January 2000 and January 2020. In addition to demographic information, we collected RCC pathology, recurrence details, and most recent chest imaging. We excluded non-RCC pathology, and patients with pulmonary nodules on baseline imaging.

RESULTS

We identified 463 unique patients (mean age 58.3 years, range 23-87) that underwent surgical excision of pT1a RCC with mean follow-up of 47.6 months (range 1-201). On the most recent pulmonary surveillance imaging, 72.4% (335/463) had CXR while 27.6% (128/463) had chest CT performed. Regardless of modality, pulmonary recurrence was not detected on any surveillance imaging (0/463).

CONCLUSION

In patients without baseline preoperative lung pathology, we found that there is questionable clinical value in surveillance for pulmonary recurrence after resection of pT1a RCC.

Low incidence of pulmonary metastases in vulvar cancer patients: limited value of routine chest imaging based on a cohort study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the incidence of pulmonary metastases in the preoperative work-up of patients with primary vulvar squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Tertiary referral centre.

POPULATION

Patients treated for primary vulvar SCC from 2000 to 2018.

METHODS

The pre-operative chest imaging of 452 consecutively treated patients was documented with a minimal follow-up period of 2 years.

MEAN OUTCOME MEASURES

Incidence of pulmonary metastases, frequency of chest imaging and subsequent coincidental findings.

RESULTS

In total, 80.8% of patients underwent pre-operative chest imaging. Seven patients (1.9%), with a median tumour size of 80 mm, presented with pulmonary metastases. None of the patients with early stage disease and tumour size <40 mm who underwent radical local excision (RLE) with sentinel node (SN)-procedure, was diagnosed with pulmonary metastasis. Chest imaging was performed by radiography (58.9%) and computerised tomography (CT) (41.1%). Coincidental findings were reported in 40.7% of patients who underwent CT, compared with 15.8% of patients undergoing radiography, resulting in additional diagnostics in 14.7 and 19.7% and being of limited consequence for outcome in 2.9 and 3.3%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of pulmonary metastases in patients with primary vulvar SCC is extremely low, and none in patients with early stage disease undergoing the SN procedure. Chest imaging was performed in the majority of patients and was associated with frequent coincidental findings leading to clinically irrelevant diagnostic procedures. Therefore, we recommend omitting chest imaging in patients with early stage disease and tumours <40 mm, considering chest CT only in patients with large tumours and/or advanced stage disease.

TWEETABLE ABSTRACT

The incidence of pulmonary metastases is 1.9%, none in early stage disease planned for SN. Omitting chest imaging in this group is advised.

Available active surveillance follow-up protocols for small renal mass: a systematic review

PURPOSE

To evaluate follow-up strategies for active surveillance of renal masses and to assess contemporary data.

METHODS

We performed a comprehensive search of electronic databases (Embase, Medline, and Cochrane). A systematic review of the follow-up protocols was carried out. A total of 20 studies were included.

RESULT

Our analysis highlights that most of the series used different protocols of follow-up without consistent differences in the outcomes. Most common protocol consisted in imaging and clinical evaluation at 3, 6, and 12 months and yearly thereafter. Median length of follow-up was 42 months (range 1-137). Mean age was 74 years (range 67-83). Of 2243 patients 223 (10%) died during the follow-up and 19 patients died of kidney cancer (0.8%). The growth rate was the most used parameter to evaluate disease progression eventually triggering delayed intervention. Maximal axial diameter was the most common method to evaluate growth rate. CT scan is the most used, probably because it is usually more precise than kidney ultrasound and more accessible than MRI. Performing chest X-ray at every check does not seem to alter the clinical outcome during AS.

CONCLUSION

The minimal cancer-specific mortality does not seem to correlate with the follow-up scheme. Outside of growth rate and initial size, imaging features to predict outcome of RCC during AS are limited. Active surveillance of SRM is a well-established treatment option. However, standardized follow-up protocols are lacking. Prospective, randomized, trials to evaluate the best follow-up strategies are pending.

Impact of routine imaging in the diagnosis of recurrence for patients with localized and locally advanced renal tumor treated with nephrectomy

OBJECTIVE

Modalities of surveillance to detect recurrence after nephrectomy for localized or locally advanced renal tumor are not standardized. The aim was to assess the impact of surveillance scheme on oncological outcomes.

METHODS

Patients treated for localized or locally advanced renal tumor with total or partial nephrectomy between 2006 and 2010 in an academic institution were included retrospectively. According to the University of California Los Angeles Integrated Staging System (UISS) protocol, follow-up was considered adequate or not. Symptoms, location and number of lesions at recurrence diagnosis were collected. Recurrence-free, cancer-specific and overall survivals were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with the log-rank test. Cox proportional hazards regression models were calculated to identify prognostic factors.

RESULTS

A total of 267 patients were included. Median follow-up was 72 months. Recurrence rate was 23.2% (62/267 patients). Recurrences were local (16%), single metastatic (23%), oligo-metastatic (15%) or multi-metastatic (46%). 72.6% of the recurrences occurred within the 3 years after surgery. No recurrence was diagnosed by chest X-ray or abdominal ultrasound. One hundred and twenty-one patients had inadequate follow-up. They had similar recurrence-free survival, cancer-specific survival and overall survival as patients with adequate follow-up. In multivariable analysis, the presence of multi-metastatic lesions was an independent prognostic factor of worse cancer-specific mortality after recurrence diagnosis (HR = 10.15, 95% CI: 2.29-44.82, p = 0.002).

CONCLUSION

Role of chest X-ray and abdominal ultrasound for the detection of recurrences is limited. Rigorous follow-up according to the UISS protocol does not improve oncological outcomes. Follow-up schedules with less frequent imaging should be discussed.

Should We Separate the Pulmonary Surveillance Protocol for Postsurgical T1a and T1b Renal Cell Carcinoma? A Multicenter Database Analysis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the incidence of pulmonary metastases (PM) and the utility of the surveillance chest radiography (CXR) in detecting PM after curative treatment to better define surveillance recommendations for T1a and T1b renal cell carcinoma.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A retrospective review of a multi-institutional database was performed to include patients with renal masses treated with partial nephrectomy or radical nephrectomy. Patients were excluded for ≥T2 disease, benign pathology, and metastases. The primary outcome was the incidence of asymptomatic pulmonary lesion concerning for PM detected by CXR within 3 years.

RESULTS

Five hundred sixty-eight patients met criteria of which 384 had T1a and 184 had T1b at a mean follow-up of 45 and 43 months, respectively. Patients averaged 2.96 and 2.99 CXRs for T1a and T1b with 46.8% having surveillance beyond 3 years. Indeterminate lesions were found in 5.7% (22) of T1a and 5.4% (10) in T1b of which 0.01% (2) and 1.1% (2) were confirmed PM by chest computed tomography and biopsy. Three-year CXR surveillance period detected asymptomatic PM in zero and two patients for T1a and T1b, respectively. High risk pathological features were not present in patients with PM. There was no difference in the incidence PM for patients undergoing partial nephrectomy (3/290) or radical nephrectomy (1/278) (P = .62).

CONCLUSION

Our review suggests that post-treatment pulmonary surveillance should be reserved for T1b and may not be required for T1a given the low yield and false positives of CXR leading to unnecessary radiation and potential biopsies.

National recommendations document on the follow-up of patients with renal cell carcinoma

OBJECTIVES

This document was developed to establish directives for the follow-up of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) based on the best available scientific evidence and on expert opinions, which can help urologists in the decision-making process and standardise the criteria at the national level.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The methodology is based on the RAND/UCLA method. A panel of 9 experts on RCC participated in designing a thematic index, identifying and reading the available evidence, formulating recommendations and drafting the content. A validating group of 25 experts, who did not participate in the previous phases, assessed the recommendations through anonymous voting in a face-to-face consensus meeting. The recommendations that were agreed upon by 75% or more of the participants in this vote were accepted as consensus. The recommendations that did not achieve this consensus were rejected.

RESULTS

A total of 25 recommendations were accepted as consensus. These recommendations cover the laboratory tests, clinical assessment tests and imaging tests that should be performed for patients with RCC. The presented recommendations have been adapted according to relapse risk. The current document also outlines the frequency and duration of follow-up for each patient profile.

CONCLUSIONS

The current document enables standardisation of the follow-up criteria for patients with RCC treated in the Spanish healthcare setting, according to the patients' relapse risk.