Clinical outcome of incidentally discovered small renal cell carcinoma after delayed surgery

Abstract

Background

This study was undertaken to investigate the growth rate and clinical outcome of patients with a small renal mass (SRM) after delayed surgery.

Methods

We reviewed the clinical records of 34 patients with SRMs ≤ 4 cm at diagnosis, who underwent delayed surgical intervention during surveillance from January 2000 to December 2011. Radiographic evaluations using computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed at least every 6 months, and the tumor size was determined at least twice.

Results

The mean follow-up time was 26.6 ± 18.6 months and mean tumor doubling time was 23.4 ± 16.0 months. Histopathological analysis revealed that 32 of the 34 patients were malignant in pT1aN0M0. Only one patient showed tumor recurrence, who subsequently died due to tumor progression.

Conclusion

The growth rate of the small renal mass was slow in the majority of our patients. Delayed intervention does not have a detrimental effect on cancer-specific outcomes.

Keywords:

• renal cell carcinoma
• small renal mass
• natural history
• growth rate
• delayed intervention

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.