The oncological outcome of both groups was similar.
The authors retrospectively analyzed 1,519 patients who had undergone nephron-sparing surgery for kidney cancer between 1997 and 2007. The aim was to compare the techniques of tumor excision and tumor enucleation. In 64.7% of patients a tumor excision was performed compared to 35.3% of patients with a tumor enucleation. Primary endpoint was cancer-specific survival (CSS) after 5 and 10 years. Median follow-up was 51 months in the partial nephrectomy group compared to 54 months in the tumor enucleation group. The 5-year CSS was 93.9% (partial nephrectomy group) versus 94.3% (tumor enucleation group) and the 10-year CSS was 91.6% (partial nephrectomy group) versus 93.2% (tumor enucleation group). These differences were not statistically significant and the operative technique was not an independent predictor of CSS on multivariate analysis. With the limitation of the retrospective character of the study the authors concluded that partial nephrectomy and tumor enucleation have similar oncologic outcome.
This retrospective study confirms an earlier publication on simple enucleation. However, a prospective and randomized trial with the primary endpoint “recurrence-free survival” seems to be required for definite recommendations.
Presented by Giacomo Novara, MD, FEBU, et al. at the 26th Annual European Association of Urology (EAU) Congress - March 18 - 21, 2011 - Austria Centre Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Reported for UroToday by Christian Doehn, MD, PhD, Department of Urology, University of Lübeck Medical School, Lübeck Germany.
View EAU 2011 Annual Meeting Coverage
