Oncological outcomes of minimally invasive partial versus minimally invasive radical nephrectomy for cT1-2/N0/M0 clear cell renal cell carcinoma: a propensity score-matched analysis

World J Urol. 2017 May;35(5):789-794. doi: 10.1007/s00345-016-1923-2. Epub 2016 Aug 30.

Abstract

Purpose: To compare the oncologic outcomes of partial nephrectomy (PN) and radical nephrectomy (RN) for cT1-2/N0 renal tumors and pathologically confirmed pT1-pT3a-pNx clear cell (cc)-renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Few studies compared the oncologic outcomes of PN and RN for renal tumors >7 cm.

Methods: A prospective "renal cancer" database was queried for cT<3-cN0-cM0 and pT1a-pT3a-pNx cc-RCC. Out of 1650 cases treated between 2001 and 2013, 921 were cc-RCC and 666 met inclusion criteria, 232 of which treated with minimally invasive RN and 434 with MIPN. A 1:1 propensity score-matched (PSM) analysis was employed to minimize the selection bias of non-random assignment of patients to PN as opposed to RN. Kaplan-Meier method was used to compare the oncologic outcomes of the PSM cohorts. Survival rates were computed at 2, 5, and 10 years after surgery, and the log-rank test was applied to assess statistical significance between the two PSM groups.

Results: RN tumors were significantly larger (p < 0.001), with higher pT stages (p < 0.001), higher Fuhrman grades (p = 0.002) and a more frequent sarcomatoid differentiation (p = 0.04). After applying the PSM analysis, the two cohorts of 155 RN and 155 PN cases did not differ for all clinical and pathologic covariates (all p ≥ 0.32). PN and RN cohorts displayed comparable 5-year metastasis-free survival (88.9 vs 89.9 %, p = 0.811), local recurrence-free survival (94.2 vs 95.9 %, p = 0.283), overall survival (94.5 vs 96.8 %, p = 0.419) and cancer-specific survival (96 vs 98.6 %, p = 0.907) rates.

Conclusions: PN and RN for patients with cc-RCC larger than 7 cm provided equivalent oncologic outcomes. Safety and reproducibility of our findings should be further investigated in larger multicentric cohorts.

Keywords: Minimally invasive; Outcomes; Partial nephrectomy; Propensity score matching; Radical nephrectomy; Renal cell carcinoma.

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / mortality
  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Renal Cell / surgery*
  • Databases, Factual
  • Disease-Free Survival
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Kaplan-Meier Estimate
  • Kidney Neoplasms / mortality
  • Kidney Neoplasms / pathology
  • Kidney Neoplasms / surgery*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / methods*
  • Neoplasm Grading
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Nephrectomy / methods*
  • Propensity Score
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Rate
  • Treatment Outcome