Surgical therapy is the only curative therapeutic approach for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma. Nephron-sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma, when performed by proper indication, provides recurrence-free and long-term survival rates similar to those observed after a radical surgical procedure.
Aim: In this retrospective study we present our experiences on open nephron-sparing surgery. We describe the rates of different indications of nephron-sparing surgery, the rates of different hystopathological findings, the complications and the long-term cancer specific survival rates.
Methods: We reviewed retrospectively the data of 33 patients who had nephron-sparing surgery with T1 tumors between 1999 and 2008 in our department. The last patients' status evaluation was carried out in March 2009. The mean follow up was 4.64 years.
Results: 82% of the patients had an elective indication, 3% had relative and 15% had absolute indication for nephron-sparing surgery procedure. The mean tumor greatest dimension was 2.86cm. The hystopathologic review revealed 94% clear cell, 6% papillary renal cell carcinomas in the class of malignant renal tumors. The 1- and 5-year cancer-specific survival chance were 93.8%. We had to do nephrectomy because of postoperative bleeding and urinoma in 3 cases.
Conclusion: Nephron-sparing surgery is an acceptable and safe treatment that provides excellent long-term cancer specific survival rates for T1a renal cell carcinoma patients.