Clinical outcomes of percutaneous radiofrequency ablation for small renal cancer

Partial nephrectomy is the treatment of choice for small renal cell carcinoma (RCC) from the perspective of cancer management and renal function. However, when patients with RCC are of advanced age, exhibit severe comorbidities, including cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, or have hereditary RCC, ablative therapies, including radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and cryoablation are useful treatment options. In the present study, the clinical outcomes of percutaneous RFA for treating small RCC were evaluated. Between December 2005 and March 2015, 40 patients (41 renal tumors in total) underwent RFA and a total of 50 sessions of RFA were performed. The average tumor size was 2.5 cm. A total of 18 tumors were exophytic and 23 were parenchymal. Of the 41 tumors, 85.4% were completely ablated by initial RFA and the rate of complete ablation following reablation for residual viable lesions was 95.1%. Local recurrence-free survival following complete ablation was 84.2% at 3 years. A patient with a 4.7 cm RCC tumor rapidly progressed following four RFA treatments until complete ablation was achieved. The metastasis-free survival rate following initial RFA was 95.7% at 3 years. The RCC-specific survival was 100% (mean follow-up, 38 months). Adverse events occurred in five sessions (10%); however, only 1 patient with arteriovenous fistula required intervention (transarterial embolization). The mean hospital stay following RFA was 3.2 days. The mean decrease in estimated glomerular filtration rate following RFA was 2.7%. The results of the present study indicate that percutaneous RFA was an effective treatment for small RCCs with respect to management of cancer, minimal invasiveness and minimal loss of renal function, particularly in patients for whom surgery would be a high risk and those at increased risk of deterioration of renal function.