ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To analyze the characteristics of renal adenocarcinoma less than 3 cm in size and to determine the therapeutic approach in these tumors. METHODS: 286 cases with a histological diagnosis of renal adenocarcinoma that had undergone surgery at our hospital over the last 25 years were reviewed. RESULTS: The study showed 11 cases had renal tumors less than 3 cm in size. Six had been incidentally diagnosed. Two patients presented metastasis during the course of the disease and one patient had massive lymph node invasion (N3) at the time of diagnosis. Seven patients had a low tumor stage and grade. CONCLUSION: Renal tumors less than 3 cm in size have been considered to have a low potential for malignancy. However, the availability of more sophisticated diagnostic imaging techniques have led to earlier detection of renal masses, when the tumor is of a smaller size. Therefore determining whether the tumor is benign or malignant should be based exclusively on the histopathological findings. Treatment of this type of lesions is by surgery and performing a partial nephrectomy should be considered.
