Cryosurgical ablation of renal cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Small renal masses are being commonly diagnosed incidentally in older patients. A partial nephrectomy is the first-line nephron sparing treatment option for these lesions. However, probe ablative therapy such as cryoablation is emerging as an alternative option for select patients requiring nephron sparing surgery. METHODS The current literature regarding the management of small renal lesions with cryoablation was retrospectively reviewed. We selected six of the largest published series of renal cryoablation with a total of 320 patients. The diagnosis, staging, treatment options, mechanism, efficacy and morbidity associated with renal cryoablation were evaluated. RESULTS Renal cryoablation for localized small renal masses is well tolerated and associated with a low complication rate. The range of mean tumor size in our literature review series (320 patients) was 2.3 to 2.6 cm. After a range of mean follow-up of 5.9 to 72 months, including a series with a minimum of 5 years of follow-up, the cancer specific survival was 97% to 100% and overall patient survival was 82% to 90.2%. CONCLUSIONS Renal cryoablation, based on available clinical reports, appears to be a curative option for patients with small localized renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) who are unwilling or unable to undergo a partial nephrectomy. With encouraging intermediate oncological follow-up available, longer-term follow-up is needed to validate the use of cryoablation as a primary treatment option.