Surgical treatment of kidney cancer in elderly

The aim of this study was to analyze our patients over the age of 70 suffering from kidney cancer that had undergone surgical treatment. During the 2000-2012 period 634 patients with kidney cancer were treated, 197 of whom were over the age of 70. In this group there were 117 (59.4%) men and 80 (40.6%) women. In most of these patients (156 patients--79.2%) the clear cell type of renal carcinoma was diagnosed. According to TNM classification the dominant stages were Tlb in 62 patients (31.8%) and T1a in 48 patients (24.6%). The most common grade was G2 (73 patients--37%). Radical nephrectomy was performed in 103 (52.3%) patients, simple nephrectomy in 86patients (43.7%), enucleation of the tumor and resection of the kidney in 6 (3.1%) patients, while in 2 patients the tumor was inoperable. Early postoperative compli cations developed in 21 (10.8%) patients. They included complications in distant organs in 11 (5.6%) patients and surgical complications in 10 (5.4%) patients. Five patients (2.6%) died during early postoperative period. Surgery is recommended treatment for elderly patients with kidney cancer with complications comparable with those in younger patients.