Solitary renal fossa recurrence of renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy.

Renal cell carcinoma without metastasis responds well to surgical excision but is known to recur postnephrectomy. In a small but significant number of patients this recurrence is not accompanied by metastasis, which is important as these people benefit from further surgery. We examined 20 articles from the current literature to ascertain how best to treat this condition. Surgical management renders better results than conservative or medical therapies. Readily available investigations such as blood tests and computed tomography can help determine the right patients for surgery in an evidence-based fashion. Current findings have allowed us to suggest a protocol for the treatment of solitary renal fossa recurrence of postnephrectomy renal cell carcinoma. There are further opportunities for study in validating our protocol, and in novel renal cell carcinoma treatment strategies that have not been tested on solitary renal fossa recurrences.