[Surgical treatment of renal adenocarcinoma with venous thrombus]

To analyze therapeutic management and survival of renal adenocarcinoma with tumor venous extension treated by surgery in our experience.

We retrospectively evaluate a series of 29 cases of renal adenocarcinoma with venous thrombus who underwent radical nephrectomy and thrombectomy from January 1986 to November 2003. Mean age was 63.4 11.9 (29-79) years. 23 patients were males (79%) and 6 (21%) females. 17 (59%) patients had the tumor in the right kidney and 12 (42%) in the left kidney. Tumor thrombus level was: Level I (renal vein-inferior vena cava) 13 (45%), Level II (infrahepatic vena cava) 9 (31%), Level III (retrohepatic vena cava/suprahepatic) 3 (10%), and Level IV (auricula) 4 (14%). 92% of the cases presented perirenal fat involvement. Survival analysis was performed including 24 cases of the 29. We analyzed overall and cancer-specific survival, as well as possible influence of tumor thrombus level, fat involvement, and tumor grade as prognostic factors.

Mean tumor size was 8.15 +/- 2.25 cm (5-13). Surgical approach was purely abdominal in 23 cases (79%) and thoraco-phreno-laparotomy in 6 (21%). Hepatic mobilization maneuvers and hepatic pedicle clamping were performed in 5 (17%) patients. Venous clamping was: renal-cava 13 cases (44%), triple clamping I1 (37%) (9 infrahepatic and 2 suprahepatic), and supradiaphragmatic-auricula 5 (17%). Conventional extracorporeal circulation (CEC) with moderate hypothermia (26-28 degrees C) was employed in 4 cases and CEC with heart arrest (4 min) in one. Mean follow-up was 52 months. At the time of review 9 patients were alive, 11 had died from tumor and 4 had died from other causes. Mean overall survival was 71 +/- 12 months and cancer specific survival 86 +/- 14 months. Neither renal fat involvement (p=0.6) nor tumor thrombus level (p = 0.9) were prognostic factors for survival in the univariant analysis, but tumor grade was (p = 0.03).

Patients with venous tumor extension without lymph node involvement or metastasis should be treated by radical surgery with complete excision of the tumor thrombus. Tumor grade was a prognostic factor for survival, but venous involvement level and presence of perirenal fat involvement were not.