Study examines different types of surgery for kidney cancer

For completely endophytic kidney tumors, which grow inward, both open partial nephrectomy (OPN) and robotic partial nephrectomy (RPN) led to excellent patient outcomes in a recent study.

When investigators analyzed information on 87 RPN and 56 OPN cases, they found that the patients in the RPN group had shorter length of hospital stay, less blood loss, and lower blood transfusion rates during surgery. No cancer recurrences occurred with median follow-up of 15.2 and 18.1 months in the RPN and OPN groups, respectively. There was no difference in rates of kidney function preservation following surgery.

"Robotic partial nephrectomy results match the open approach for small localized endophytic renal masses, while affording a minimally invasive approach and shorter hospital stay," said Dr. Jihad Kaouk, senior author of the BJU International study.