Trends of partial and radical nephrectomy in managing small renal masses

Use of partial nephrectomy (PN) for renal tumors appears to have relatively lower incidence rates in Jordan. We sought to characterize its trend at King Hussein Cancer Center for the last 10 years.

A retrospective review of our renal cell cancer data was performed. We identified 169 patients who had undergone surgery for renal tumors measuring ≤7 cm between 2005 and 2015. We characterized tumor size, pathology, type of surgery and clinical outcomes. Factors associated with the use of PN were evaluated using univariable and multivariable logistic regression models.

Of the 169 patients, 34 (20%) and 135 (80%) had undergone partial and radical nephrectomy (RN) respectively for tumors ≤7 cm in diameter. Total number of 48 patients with tumors of ≤4 cm in diameter had undergone either PN (n=19; 40%) or RN (n=29; 60%). The frequency of PN procedures steadily increased over the years from 6% in 2005-2008, to 32% in 2013-2015, contrary to RN which was less frequently applied 94% in 2005-2008, and 68% in 2013-2015. In multivariable analysis, delayed surgery (p=0.01) and smaller tumor size (p=0.0005) were significant independent predictors of PN. During follow-up period, incidence of metastasis was lower in PN versus RN (13% and 32%, respectively, p=0.043). Local recurrence rates were not significantly different between PN (6.9%) and RN (7.2%) (p=0.99). The mean tumor sizes for patients who had undergone PN and RN were 4.1 and 5.5 cm respectively, (p<0.0001). The mean follow-up period for PN was 20 months, and for RN 33 months, (p=0.0225).

Partial nephrectomy for small renal tumors is relatively less frequently applied in Jordan, however an increase in its use has been observed over the years. Our data showed lower rates of distant metastasis and similar rates of local recurrence in favor of PN.