Radical nephrectomy: too radical for small renal masses?

Outcomes of Radiofrequency Ablation for Kidney Cancer

BACKGROUND

The incidence of small (< 4 cm) solid enhancing renal masses has been rising, and the majority (60% to 80%) of these tumors are renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) when pathologic analysis is performed. Needle ablation for small incidental renal masses is an attractive therapeutic option. Reasons include its decreased morbidity, shorter convalescence, and the ability to avert the higher risk of extirpative surgery in an aging patient population. Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a thoroughly studied needle ablative method used for RCC.

METHODS

The current published literature on renal tumor RFA was reviewed. The in vitro experiments, animal studies and clinical experience with RFA for treatment of small RCCs were analyzed and various controversies in renal RFA are presented for discussion.

RESULTS

Percutaneous and laparoscopic renal RFA can be safely performed and can eradicate small RCCs with cancer specific survival rates over 90% to 95% in many series. While long-term (5 years or greater) cancer control data are not yet available, these intermediate-term results are similar to those achieved with traditional nephron-sparing surgical options. However, the optimal method to perform RFA for renal masses is still evolving.

CONCLUSIONS

While long-term cancer control data are not yet available, the current literature suggests that RFA can effectively eradicate small RCCs. Further research is needed to elucidate the influence of various treatment variables, including impedance vs temperature-controlled RFA, sonographic vs computed tomographic guidance, general anesthetic vs conscious sedation, and radiologist vs urologist delivery of renal RFA.

Laparoscopic Radiofrequency Ablation versus Partial Nephrectomy for cT1a Renal Tumors: Long-Term Outcome of 179 Patients

OBJECTIVES

To compare the long-term functional and oncological results between laparoscopic radiofrequency ablation (LRFA) and laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) in selected clinical T1a (cT1a) renal tumor patients.

METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients with cT1a renal tumors who had LRFA or LPN at our institution between February 2006 and February 2015. Student's t test was used to compare the perioperative data between the two groups. Survival analyses were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

A total of 179 patients were included in the study. Patients in the LRFA cohort were significantly older and had higher American Society of Anesthesiologists sore than in the LPN cohort. The LRFA group had a significantly lower mean blood loss than the LPN group (p = 0.03). The percent decrease of GFR in the LRFA group was significantly lower than in the LPN group (p = 0.021). The 5-year overall, cancer-specific and disease-free survival were 93.3 vs. 94.6%, 98.0 vs. 98.5% and 97.1 vs. 97.3%, for LRFA and LPN, respectively (all p value >0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

The excellent perioperative results, long-term functional and oncological outcomes of LRFA confirm that this technique is safe, nephron sparing and oncologically effective for the treatment of cT1a renal tumors.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of renal cell carcinoma (RCC): experience in 200 tumours

Objectives

Patients and Methods

Results

Conclusions

Integration of laparoscopic partial nephrectomy into an Australian public hospital: three-year follow-up of our initial 50 cases

OBJECTIVE

To examine the early outcomes and complications of integrating laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (LPN) into a public teaching hospital in Australia.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

An outcomes review from prospectively collected data on our initial 50 cases of LPN. The median follow-up was 36 months with a minimum follow-up of 2 years and a maximum of 5 years.

RESULTS

The mean patient age was 60 years, mean tumour size was 2.9 cm, and mean baseline creatinine concentration was 79 µmol/L. One patient had a solitary kidney, and one patient had bilateral tumours. The mean operative duration was 168 min, with a mean warm ischaemia time of 25 min. The median blood loss was 100 mL and the median (range) hospital stay was 4 (2-12) days. The complication rate was 6%, including two instances of secondary haemorrhage, and one port-site hernia. No patient required conversion to radical nephrectomy or experienced clinically significant deterioration in their renal function. There have been no local or systemic recurrences to date, with a maximum follow-up of 5 years.

CONCLUSIONS

LPN can be successfully integrated into the Australian public health care sector as standard of care for stage 1 renal masses requiring treatment. Due to the inherent risk of bleeding early in the learning curve, cases should be performed in the setting of adequate surgical and interventional radiographic support.

Durable oncologic outcomes after radiofrequency ablation: experience from treating 243 small renal masses over 7.5 years

BACKGROUND

Long-term oncologic outcomes for renal thermal ablation are limited. The authors of this report present their experience with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) therapy for 243 small renal masses (SRMs) over the past 7.5 years.

METHODS

The authors' institutional, prospectively maintained RFA database was reviewed to determine intermediate and long-term oncologic outcomes for patients with SRMs (generally < 4 cm) who underwent RFA. Particular attention was placed on patients who had a minimum 3 years of follow-up. Patients were excluded from the analysis if they had received previous treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) on the ipsilateral kidney or if they did not have at least 1 imaging study available for follow-up.

RESULTS

Two hundred eight patients (with 243 SRMs) who had no evidence of previous ipsilateral renal cancer treatment underwent RFA and had follow-up imaging studies available for review. Overall, tumor size averaged 2.4 cm, and follow-up ranged from 1.5 months to 90 months (mean, 27 months). Of the 227 tumors (93%) that underwent preablation biopsy, RCC was confirmed in 79%. The initial treatment success rate was 97%, and the overall 5-year recurrence-free survival rate was 93% (90% for 160 patients who had biopsy-proven RCC). During follow-up, 3 patients developed metastatic disease, and 1 patient died of RCC, yielding 5-year actuarial metastasis-free and cancer-specific survival rates of 95% and 99%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

RFA provided successful treatment of SRMs and produced a low rate of recurrence as well as prolonged metastasis-free and cancer-specific survival rates at 5 years after treatment. Although longer term follow-up of RFA will be required to determine late recurrence rates, the current results indicated a minimal risk of disease recurrence in patients who are >3 years removed from RFA.

Radical nephrectomy for pT1a renal masses may be associated with decreased overall survival compared with partial nephrectomy

PURPOSE

We reviewed our surgical experience with small renal tumors, comparing overall survival in patients treated with radical and partial nephrectomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Using our nephrectomy registry we identified patients with sporadic, unilateral, solitary and localized renal masses 4 cm or less who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy between 1989 and 2003. Patients with a solitary kidney or impaired renal function at presentation were excluded, leaving 648 available for analysis. Overall survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and associations with death were evaluated using Cox proportional hazards regression.

RESULTS

At last followup 146 patients had died of any cause and 502 were alive at a median of 7.1 years. Radical and partial nephrectomy was performed in 290 and 358 patients, respectively. In all patients radical nephrectomy was not significantly associated with death from any cause compared with partial nephrectomy (RR 1.12, p = 0.52). However, there was a significant interaction with age, leading us to stratify our analysis at the median age of 65 years. In 327 patients younger than 65 years radical nephrectomy was significantly associated with death from any cause compared with partial nephrectomy (RR 2.16, p = 0.02). The increased risk of death persisted after adjusting for year of surgery (p = 0.02), preoperative creatinine (p = 0.03), Charlson-Romano index (p = 0.04), symptoms at presentation (p = 0.02), diabetes at presentation (p = 0.03) and histology (p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that, compared with partial nephrectomy, radical nephrectomy is associated with decreased overall survival in younger patients with small renal masses.