Outcomes of Radiofrequency Ablation for Solitary T1a Renal Cell Carcinoma: A 20-Year Tertiary Cancer Center Experience.

BACKGROUND

The aim is to determine the long-term oncologic and survival outcomes of the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of solitary de novo T1a renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed our renal ablation registry and included only patients with new solitary, biopsy-proven T1a RCC (<4 cm) who underwent RFA from January 2001 through December 2020. We collected patient and tumor characteristics. Survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

Of the 243 patients who met our inclusion criteria (160 male and 83 female, median age 68 years), 128 (52.6%) had another primary malignancy other than renal malignancy. Two-hundred forty-three RFA procedures were performed for 243 renal tumors of a median tumor size of 2.5 cm. The median follow-up period was 3.7 years. Most tumors (68.6%) were clear cell RCC. Ten patients (4.1%) experienced Clavien-Dindo Grade III complications. Seven patients(3.1%) developed recurrence at the ablation zone, and 11 (4.5%) developed recurrence elsewhere in the kidney. The 15-year local-recurrence- and disease-free survival were 96.5% and 88.6%, respectively. The 15-year metastasis-free survival and cancer-specific survival were 100%.

CONCLUSIONS

RFA is a highly effective modality for the management of T1a RCC, with low complication and recurrence rates. Long-term data revealed favorable oncologic and survival outcomes.