Bilateral renal cancers: oncological and functional outcomes

Area of Science:

• Urology
• Nephrology
• Oncology

Background:

• Bilateral renal cancers present unique management challenges.
• Understanding tumor characteristics and treatment outcomes is crucial for patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the characteristics of bilateral renal cancers.
• To evaluate the oncologic and functional outcomes of surgical management for these tumors.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 65 patients with bilateral renal cancers from 1995 to 2015.
• Surgical procedures included bilateral partial nephrectomies or unilateral nephrectomy with contralateral nephron-sparing surgery.
• Data on tumor characteristics, histology, renal function, and survival were collected.

Main Results:

• High histologic concordance (93.6%) was observed between synchronous and metachronous tumors.
• Nephron-sparing surgeries resulted in moderate postoperative increases in creatinine and decreases in GFR.
• The 5-year overall survival was 53%, and tumor-specific survival was 80%, with low rates of distant metastases and local recurrences.

Conclusions:

• Bilateral renal carcinomas demonstrate high histologic concordance.
• Nephron-sparing surgical approaches provide acceptable oncologic control and preserve renal function.
• These surgical strategies are effective for managing bilateral kidney cancers.