Practical aspects of treatment of kidney cancer in a modern hospital: the evolution of surgical approaches

Objective:  analysis of results of the outcomes of surgical treatment for renal tumors in the Saint Petersburg City Hospital No. 40 over the last 5 years and determination the trends.Materials and methods.  The study included 293 patients that underwent 296 surgeries for renal tumors. The majority of patients (87.84 %) were diagnosed with localized cancer, whereas locally advanced and metastatic forms were detected in 4.39 and 7.77 % of cases respectively. We performed radical nephrectomy (RNE) or nephron sparing (NS) via open or minimally invasive route (videoendoscopic or robot-assisted surgery using the da Vinci Surgical System).Results.  Organ-preserving surgeries were performed in 52.36 % of patients, RNE – in 47.64 % of patients; minimally invasive and open surgeries were conducted in 95.95 and 4.05 % respectively. In individuals with stage cT1a cancer, NS and RNE were performed in 87 and 13 % of cases respectively; in patients with stage cT1b cancer, NS and RNE were performed in 50.82 and 49.18 % of cases respectively. The majority (90.2 %) of patients with renal tumors >7 cm underwent minimally invasive surgeries, primarily RNE. The incidence of severe postoperative complications after NS and RNE was comparable: 5.75–8.06 and 1.67–15.38 % respectively (р = 0.64).Conclusion.  Minimally invasive NS is the method of choice for stage с T1 tumors; however, in some cases, we should also consider it for tumors >7 cm. Videoendoscopic surgery is the most preferable option for these patients, whereas robot-assisted techniques should be used for organpreserving surgeries and RNE in difficult cases.