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Updated: Jun 25, 2026
Thermal Ablation for the Treatment of Abdominal Tumors
Published on: March 7, 2011
Partial Nephrectomy Versus Thermal Ablation for Cystic Renal Tumors: A Registry-Based, Propensity Score Matched
Gianpaolo Lucignani1,2, Pierre Bigot3, Morgan Roupret4
1Department of Urology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Via Della Commenda 15, 20122, Milan, Italy. gplucignani@gmail.com.
Purpose:
To assess the perioperative and oncological outcomes of thermal ablation (TA) and partial nephrectomy (PN) technique in the management of cystic renal tumors.
Materials And Methods:
The French national registry for renal cancer (UroCCR) was retrospectively evaluated for patients treated by either PN or TA for a cystic renal tumor. Patients were propensity score matched for age, body mass index, ASA score, renal function, tumor diameter and R.E.N.A.L. score. After 2:1 matching, 88 and 44 patients treated by PN or TA were included. Descriptive statistics and survival analysis tested the association between the type of procedure and perioperative and oncological outcomes.
Results:
Eighty-eight and 44 patients underwent PN and TA (33 (75%) radiofrequency ablation, 9 (20.5%) cryoablation and 2 (4.5%) microwave) respectively. Median follow- up was 43 months. Groups were comparable in terms of baseline characteristics. Histology was available for 20 (45.5%) of TA patients. Length of stay (1 vs 3 days) and postoperative complications' rate (19.3% vs 4.5%) favored TA. Groups were comparable in terms of major (Clavien > 2) complications (3.4 vs 2.3%, p = 0.593). Local recurrence-free, progression free and cancer specific survival rates were 94.2% vs 89.7% (p = 0.289), 98.4% vs 94.1%, (p = 0.556) and 100% vs 95.5% (p = 0.317) in the PN and TA groups, respectively.
Conclusions:
Ablative treatment of cystic renal tumors appears feasible and safe. Thermal ablation confirms its lower perioperative impact on hospital stay and overall complications. As for local recurrence, progression and cancer specific death, no statistically significant difference was observed between PN and TA.
