Long-term outcomes of mini-margin nephron sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma / 中华外科杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the safety and effects of mini-margin nephron sparing surgery (NSS) for renal cell carcinoma (RCC).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>From January 1998 to December 2006, 115 cases of RCC with diameter of 4 cm or less and stage of T1aN0M0 were treated with NSS using a margin of 5 mm or more. The mean diameter of the tumors was 3.3 cm (range 1.0-4.0 cm). Of the cases, 3 were with synchronous bilateral cancer while 112 cases were with normal opposite kidneys. The clinical results were followed and analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>All of the operations were technically successful. The mean duration of surgical procedures was 90 min (ranged 80-120 min). The blood loss was 50 -200 ml. No patient needed blood transfusion. Renal arteries were occluded in 98 cases under hypothermic technique for a mean duration of 22 min (20-25 min). While in 17 cases, renal parenchyma squeezing was used for bleeding control. All of the 115 cases were of negative margin by weather frozen or routine pathologic study. The mean follow-up was 62 months (6-96 months). Local recurrence was found in 1 case during follow-up, with a local recurrence rate of 0.9%, while no distant metastasis was detected. All the patients were alive with no evidence of tumor bearing until last evaluation. Secondary gross hematuria occurred in 3 cases during hospital stay and cured by bed limitation. There were no major complications such as bleeding and urinary leakage or urinoma requiring re-operation.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Mini-margin nephron sparing surgery is likewise safe and effective in treating early localized renal cell carcinoma 4 cm or less. It provides excellent renal function preservation, favorable long-term progression-free survival, and is not associated with an increased risk of local recurrence.</p>

Significance of margin in nephron sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma of 4 cm or less / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Current surgical practice for nephron sparing surgery allows at least 1 cm margin of normal tissue around the tumour. However, recent studies show that the width of the margin is not important, even simple enucleation is as effective as partial nephrectomy. We explored whether margin size has significant impacts on clinical outcomes in nephron sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma of 4 cm or less.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Between 1998 and 2006, 115 patients with sporadic, pathologically confirmed, renal cell carcinoma 4 cm or less (T1a) and normal contralateral kidney were treated by nephron sparing surgery using a margin less than 5 mm. The surgical margin status was evaluated from frozen and permanent paraffin sections.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Mean and median tumour diameter were 3.3 cm and 3.5 cm (range 1.0-4.0). The mean margin width was 2.2 mm (median 2.0, range 0-6). In addition, 114 cases had margins 5 mm or less (99.1%), 97 cases (84.3%) had margin 3 mm or less, and 26 cases had margin zero (22.6%). None of the patients had positive surgical margins. No patients died during follow-up (mean 65 months). There were no any major surgical complications and no distant metastasis was detected. Local recurrence was detected in one case (0.9%) at a different site of the kidney.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>For early localized renal cell carcinoma of 4 cm or less, as long as tumour is completely excised, the size of margin in nephron sparing surgery is not important. Nephron sparing surgery with 5 mm margin is enough for tumour control. It provides excellent renal function preservation, favourable long term progression free survival and is not associated with an increased risk of local recurrence.</p>