Topographic distribution of first landing sites of lymphatic metastases from patients with renal cancer

Role of lymphadenectomy during primary surgery for kidney cancer

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Lymph node dissection (LND) during radical nephrectomy (RN) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is not considered as a standard. The emergence of robot-assisted surgery and effective immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in recent years may change this and lymph node (LN) staging has become easier and has a clinical impact. In this review, we aimed to reconsider the role of LND today.

RECENT FINDINGS

Although the extent of LND has still not been well established, removal of more LN seems to provide better oncologic outcomes for a select group of patients with high-risk factors such as clinical T3-4. Adjuvant therapy using pembrolizumab has been shown to improve disease free survival if complete resection of metastatic lesions as well as the primary site is obtained in combination. Robot assisted RN for localized RCC has been widespread and the studies regarding LND for RCC has been recently appeared.

SUMMARY

The staging and surgical benefits and its extent of LND during RN for RCC remains unclear, but it is becoming increasingly important. Technologies that allow an easier LND and adjuvant ICI that improve survival in LN-positive patients are engaging the role of LND, a procedure that was needed, but almost never done, is now indicated sometimes. Now, the goal is to identify the clinical and molecular imaging tools that can help identify with sufficient accuracy who needs a LND and which LNs to remove in a targeted personalized approach.

Technical advances in the surgical management of Wilms tumors in children

Surgery is one of the cornerstones of Wilms tumor treatment. In this article, we present technical advancements that are finding their way into the armamentarium of pediatric cancer surgeons. We discuss the current approaches, challenges, opportunities, and future directions of minimally invasive surgery (laparoscopic and robotics), image-guided surgery, and fluorescence-guided surgery. Furthermore, we discuss the use of intraoperative ultrasonography, as well as the use of new techniques to improve the quality of lymph node sampling.

Outcome after resection of occult and non-occult lymph node metastases at the time of nephrectomy

PURPOSE

There is sparse evidence on outcomes of resected occult LN metastases at the time of nephrectomy (synchronous disease). We sought to analyse a large international cohort of patients and to identify clinico-pathological predictors of long-term survival.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected data of consecutive patients who underwent nephrectomy and LND for T_any cN0-1pN1 and cM0-1 RCC at 7 referral centres between 1988 and 2019. Patients were stratified into four clinico-pathological groups: (1) cN0cM0-pN1, (2) cN1cM0-pN1(limited, 1-3 positive nodes), (3) cN1cM0-pN1(extensive, > 3 positive nodes), and (4) cM1-pN1. Overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method, and associations with all-cause mortality (ACM) were evaluated using Cox models with multiple imputations.

RESULTS

Of the 4370 patients with LND, 292 patients with pN1 disease were analysed. Median follow-up was 62 months, during which 171 patients died. Median OS was 21 months (95% CI 17-30 months) and the 5-year OS rate was 24% (95% CI 18-31%). Patients with cN0cM0-pN1 disease had a median OS of 57 months and a 5-year OS rate of 43%. 5-year OS (median OS) decreased to 29% (33 months) in cN1cM0-pN1(limited) and to 23% (23 months) in cN1cM0-pN1(extensive) patients. Those with cM1-pN1 disease had the worst prognosis, with a 5-year OS rate of 13% (9 months). On multivariable analysis, age (p = 0.034), tumour size (p = 0.02), grade (p = 0.02) and clinico-pathological group (p < 0.05) were significant predictors of ACM.

CONCLUSION

Depending on clinico-pathological group, grade and tumour size, 5-year survival of patients with LN metastases varies from 13 to 43%. Patients with resected occult lymph node involvement (cN0/pN1 cM0) have the best prognosis with a considerable chance of long-term survival.