Surgical staging of genitourinary tumors

Regional retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy usually is performed with radical nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma and sometimes is performed with nephroureterectomy for upper tract urothelial tumors; however, no therapeutic benefit has been proven. Pelvic lymphadenectomy usually is performed with radical cystectomy for bladder cancer and may confer therapeutic benefit on patients having only minimal nodal involvement. A limited extraperitoneal pelvic lymphadenectomy, including only the nodes surrounding the obturator nerves, is performed in prostate cancer patients who are considered to be potential candidates for radical prostatectomy, but is of doubtful therapeutic benefit. The effectiveness of chemotherapy for germ-cell testicular tumors has diminished the utilization of routine surgical staging and also has decreased the scope of lymphadenectomy when performed. The substantial complications associated with traditional ilioinguinal lymphadenectomy for carcinoma of the penis and the unreliability of aspiration or excisional node biopsy have militated against routine surgical staging of patients having clinically negative nodes. This policy should be reconsidered in light of suboptimal treatment results and newer surgical techniques.