Enucleoresection for the elective treatment of small renal cell carcinoma: Can it be the treatment of choice?

Background: We present our findings in a series of T1 renal cell carcinomas (RCC) treated with excision of the tumor surrounded by a minimal layer of grossly normal parenchyma. Patients and Methods: A total of 43 patients who underwent elective nephron-sparing surgery performed with enucleoresection were studied retrospectively. None of the patients had preoperative or intraoperative suspicion of positive nodes and were free from distant metastases before surgery (N0, M0). Patients status was last evaluated in January 2006. Results: Median age was 58.7 years (35 - 78). Median tumor size was 3.3 cm (1.5 - 7). There were no major complications such as bleeding and urinary leakage/ urinoma requiring re-operation. Pathological stage was pT1a in 38 ( 89%), pT1b in 4 (9%) and pT3a in 1 (2%) patient. Median followup was 32 months (6 - 89). A total of 5 patients with RCC had died as of January 2006. Overall, 3 ( 6.9%) patients had disease progression, of whom 2 (4.6%) were local recurrence, 1 alone and 1 associated with distant metastases. The overall cancer-specific survival was 95.4%, and the overall progression-free survival was 93%. Conclusions: Enucleoresection reproduces the results of partial and radical nephrectomy with minimal morbidity. It is a safe and acceptable approach for elective nephron-sparing surgery.