In Elderly Patients with Renal Cell Carcinoma, Partial Nephrectomy Not Associated with Better Survival

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

According to a new study published in the European Journal of Cancer, researchers in South Korea have found that partial nephrectomy is not associated with a higher survival rate compared with radical nephrectomy in elderly patients with localized renal cell carcinoma.

For the propensity-matched multicenter study, researchers sought to determine the overall survival rate and renal function in elderly patients with localized renal cell carcinoma following either radical nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy.

The team identified 622 patients that underwent radical nephrectomy and 622 patients that underwent partial nephrectomy between 1999 and 2011.

Patients were then categorized as being under 65 years old or 65 years and older. Results showed that the 5-year overall survival rates were 94.7% and 91.9% for the partial nephrectomy and radical nephrectomy groups, respectively.

The overall survival rate for older patients who underwent partial nephrectomy was similar to that of older patients who underwent radical nephrectomy (HR = 0.960; 95%CI: 0.277 - 2.321; P = 0.797). In addition, those who underwent partial nephrectomy had significantly better kidney function following surgery compared with radical nephrectomy.

The researchers note that stage 4 chronic kidney disease was not more common in the radical nephrectomy arm than the partial nephrectomy arm.