The role of radical surgery for renal cell carcinoma with extension into the vena cava

Purpose: New operative technologies, such as the bypass procedures that have become established in the last decade, have led to improved prognosis in patients with renal cell carcinoma and vena caval thrombi. We report the outcome of stage dependent surgical strategies in patients with renal cell carcinoma extending into the vena cava. Materials and Methods: From January 1987 to August 1998, 93 patients with renal cell carcinoma invading the inferior vena cava were seen at our institution. Of the patients 79 underwent radical nephrectomy, phlebotomy and thrombus extraction, including 74 who underwent surgical treatment with cardiopulmonary bypass and deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. In 2 patients with retrohepatic thrombi we placed a pump driven femoro-axillary shunt during surgical resection of the retrohepatic tumor portion. Results: Distant metastases and lymph node involvement proved to be highly significant prognostic factors for survival, while the cranial extent of the tumor thrombi had no prognostic impact. Patients without distant metastases had a 5-year survival rate of 34%, which improved to 39% if regional lymph nodes were not involved. There were 5 perioperative deaths (6.3%) and the highest perioperative mortality rate (40%) was seen in patients with supradiaphragmatic thrombi. Conclusions: Radical surgery for renal cell carcinoma extending to the vena cava is justified when the tumor thrombus does not extend beyond the level of the diaphragm in the cranial direction. In view of the high perioperative mortality decisions about radical surgery must be made individually in patients with level IV thrombi, even if long-term survival is possible.