Adrenal sparing surgery in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma: when is it possible?

Correlation between CT and anatomopathological staging of kidney cancer

Our Moroccan context is experiencing an increase in the frequency of renal tumors. This trend can be explained by the generalization of the use of imaging, in particular abdominal ultrasound, which has become almost systematic among general practitioners (Godley and Ataga, 2000 [1]). The specificity of kidney cancer is anatomopathological heterogenicity: histological type, nuclear grade, tumor stage, these elements constitute the most important prognostic factors. Renal biopsy appears to be a safe and reliable solution with a low risk of tumor seeding and complications, however it cannot provide all the detailed histological information needed. Hence the interest in the abdominal scanner. The abdominal scanner is the reference examination for the evaluation of renal tumors, it diagnoses the tumor, specifies these characteristics, it assesses the loco regional, venous extension. The objective of our study is to correlate pathological and CT findings of 70 kidney cancer in order to determine the reliability of CT in kidney cancer and its extension.

The Role of Adrenalectomy in Renal Cancer

CONTEXT

Since the 1960s, routine ipsilateral adrenalectomy (IA) has been considered an integral step in the removal of renal tumors as a part of a radical nephrectomy. However, recent data from the past decade have narrowed the indications for adrenalectomy and called into question the need for adrenalectomy at all in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

OBJECTIVE

We sought to identify the role of adrenalectomy in the treatment of RCC. Specifically, we wanted to answer the following questions: What is the incidence of ipsilateral adrenal involvement by cancer? How reliable is preoperative imaging? What is the rate of ipsilateral and contralateral metachronous recurrence? And finally, what are the potential noncancer sequelae from unnecessary removal of the adrenal gland?

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

A systematic literature search of Embase, PubMed, Cochrane, and Ovid Medline was performed to identify studies evaluating the role of adrenalectomy during RCC surgery. Only articles published in English from the years 2000-2015 were included. Case reports, articles about primary adrenal tumors, letters to the editor, and surgical technique papers were excluded.

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

We found little evidence to suggest that routine IA is associated with a higher risk of short-term surgical or medical complications. We did not find evidence that IA is associated with improved cancer control. Tomographic preoperative imaging of the adrenal gland demonstrating no cancer involvement is rarely wrong (<1% of the time), and the few adrenal lesions missed on imaging can often be identified intraoperatively. Some evidence indicates that IA may be associated with worse long-term survival. Adrenalectomy rates have been decreasing in recent years, reflecting a changing practice pattern.

CONCLUSIONS

IA at the time of kidney surgery for a renal mass should be performed only if radiographic or intraoperative evidence indicates adrenal gland involvement.

PATIENT SUMMARY

We sought to define the role of adrenalectomy in patients with kidney cancer. Although there are not high-quality studies to answer this question definitively, we conclude that the adrenal gland should be spared unless there is clinical evidence of adrenal involvement.

Surgical management of large renal tumors

The surgical management of patients with renal cell carcinoma has undergone many changes. With equivalent oncologic outcomes and appreciation of the importance of renal functional preservation, the utilization of nephron-sparing partial nephrectomy has increased in recent years. Nevertheless, tumors of larger size continue to be preferentially treated with radical nephrectomy. Here, we present evidence that improvements in techniques and durability of oncologic outcomes has justified the use of nephron sparing to accomplish renal functional preservation even in patients with large renal tumors. In addition, surgical technical considerations when managing such tumors are discussed. Finally, we discuss cytoreductive surgery and the evolving role of systemic targeted therapies in the management of advanced metastatic disease.

The contemporary role of surgery in kidney cancer

The diagnosis and treatment of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has been the subject of major changes since the late 1980s. Initially, surgery was the only treatment available, but more recently, systemic therapies have been developed, and their introduction has modified some of the surgical indications for rcc. In addition, refinements in surgical technique and the introduction of minimally invasive approaches have revolutionized patient care and bear the promise of even more improvements to come. This paper provides an up-to-date overview of recent developments in the surgical treatment of RCC.

Detection, staging and surveillance in renal cell carcinoma

This article discusses the computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance (MR) scanning techniques used for the detection and staging of renal cell carcinoma and their pitfalls. Comparison between the Robson and recent modifications to the TNM classifications is also addressed. The accuracy of CT and MR in the staging of renal cell carcinoma and the role of positron emission tomography (PET) scanning is outlined and finally the surveillance of patients who have had curative treatment of renal cell carcinoma is briefly addressed.

SHOULD DIRECT IPSILATERAL ADRENAL INVASION FROM RENAL CELL CARCINOMA BE CLASSIFIED AS pT3a?

PURPOSE

The 2002 American Joint Committee on Cancer primary tumor classification for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) defines a tumor as pT3a if it invades the perinephric or renal sinus fat or directly invades the ipsilateral adrenal gland. In the current study we evaluated the association of direct ipsilateral adrenal invasion with outcome to determine if reclassification of these tumors as pT4 would improve the accuracy of the current tumor classification.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We studied 424 patients who underwent nephrectomy and adrenalectomy for unilateral, sporadic, pT3 or pT4 RCC between 1970 and 2000 at the Mayo Clinic. Cancer specific survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method.

RESULTS

Cancer specific survival for the 22 patients with pT3a or pT3b tumors that directly invaded the ipsilateral adrenal gland was significantly worse compared with that of patients with pT3a (p <0.001) or pT3b (p = 0.011) disease that did not invade the adrenal gland. There was no significant difference in the 5-year cancer specific survival between the patients with pT3a or pT3b tumors that directly invaded the ipsilateral adrenal gland and patients with pT4 tumors (cancer specific survival rates of 20% and 14%, respectively, p = 0.490).

CONCLUSIONS

Although rare, RCC with direct ipsilateral adrenal invasion behaves more aggressively than tumors involving perinephric or renal sinus fat. We believe that RCC tumors with direct adrenal invasion should be classified as pT4.

Preoperative imaging in renal cell cancer

Renal cell cancer (RCC) represents the fifth most common cancer in men, with a rising incidence. Radical cancer surgery remains the only curative treatment in localized and advanced RCC. Therefore, preoperative imaging is most important for the planning of the surgical approach and strategy. The aim of any preoperative imaging in RCC is to differentiate benign from malignant lesions, to adequately assess tumor size, localization and organ confinement, to identify lymph node and/or visceral metastases, and to reliably predict the presence and extent of any thrombus of the vena cava. It is our aim to review the current status of preoperative imaging modalities in RCC. Computed tomography (CT) remains the most appropriate imaging modality to differentiate benign from malignant lesions. Although RCC can appear as iso-, hyper- or hypodense lesions on native CT scans, it usually demonstrates a significant contrast enhancement of about 115 HU and intratumoral areas of necrosis following the intravenous application of contrast medium. Benign masses such as renal oncocytoma are most often homogenous lesions exhibiting hypodensity compared to the normal renal parenchyma following the i.v. application of contrast dye. CT accurately predicts the tumor size with only a 0.5 cm difference as compared to the pathological size of the lesion. The identification of lymph node metastases still remains a problem since the limiting size is 4 mm and CT will result in a false negative rate of about 10%, especially in the presence of micrometastases; the false positive rate of 3-43% is mainly due to reactive hyperplasia. New technologies, such as the multidetector CT with thin collimation and multiplanar reformatting, might result in a diagnostic improvement. The involvement of the adrenal gland can be accurately predicted by CT scans or MRI, allowing an adrenal sparing approach in the case of unsuspicious findings. The detection of visceral metastases appears to be crucial since it has been shown that even patients with metastatic disease might benefit from radical nephrectomy followed by systemic immunotherapy in the case of a good performance status, and the presence of lymph node and pulmonary metastases only. Involvement of the renal vein and the vena cava with tumor thrombus formation will change the surgical strategy. Preoperatively, the presence and the cranial extent of the thrombus need to be known in order to plan the surgical approach. With regard to the extent of renal vein thrombi, a three phase helical CT scan is most appropriate; for vena caval thrombi only a MRI examination is able to accurately identify any infra- or suprahepatic as well as intracardial extension of the thrombus. The identification of multifocal lesions remains another unsolved problem in preoperative imaging techniques for RCC. Compared to the pathohistological analysis of nephrectomy specimens, neither ultrasonography, color duplex sonography nor regular CT scans are able to identify multifocal lesions with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. The evaluation of unenhanced CT scans together with the enhanced corticomedullary and the nephrogenic phase result in a 100% sensitivity and might represent a valuable option. Angiography has basically been abandoned from the armory of routine imaging techniques. It has, however, a current role in terms of the embolization of large tumors to reduce intraoperative blood loss, and in the palliative management of pain and bleeding due to RCC not amenable to surgery. Finally, we present a diagnostic algorithm for the most informative imaging techniques in the evaluation of RCC.

Preoperative imaging in renal cell cancer

Renal cell cancer (RCC) represents the fifth most common cancer in men, with a rising incidence. Radical cancer surgery remains the only curative treatment in localized and advanced RCC. Therefore, preoperative imaging is most important for the planning of the surgical approach and strategy. The aim of any preoperative imaging in RCC is to differentiate benign from malignant lesions, to adequately assess tumor size, localization and organ confinement, to identify lymph node and/or visceral metastases, and to reliably predict the presence and extent of any thrombus of the vena cava. It is our aim to review the current status of preoperative imaging modalities in RCC. Computed tomography (CT) remains the most appropriate imaging modality to differentiate benign from malignant lesions. Although RCC can appear as iso-, hyper- or hypodense lesions on native CT scans, it usually demonstrates a significant contrast enhancement of about 115 HU and intratumoral areas of necrosis following the intravenous application of contrast medium. Benign masses such as renal oncocytoma are most often homogenous lesions exhibiting hypodensity compared to the normal renal parenchyma following the i.v. application of contrast dye. CT accurately predicts the tumor size with only a 0.5 cm difference as compared to the pathological size of the lesion. The identification of lymph node metastases still remains a problem since the limiting size is 4 mm and CT will result in a false negative rate of about 10%, especially in the presence of micrometastases; the false positive rate of 3-43% is mainly due to reactive hyperplasia. New technologies, such as the multidetector CT with thin collimation and multiplanar reformatting, might result in a diagnostic improvement. The involvement of the adrenal gland can be accurately predicted by CT scans or MRI, allowing an adrenal sparing approach in the case of unsuspicious findings. The detection of visceral metastases appears to be crucial since it has been shown that even patients with metastatic disease might benefit from radical nephrectomy followed by systemic immunotherapy in the case of a good performance status, and the presence of lymph node and pulmonary metastases only. Involvement of the renal vein and the vena cava with tumor thrombus formation will change the surgical strategy. Preoperatively, the presence and the cranial extent of the thrombus need to be known in order to plan the surgical approach. With regard to the extent of renal vein thrombi, a three phase helical CT scan is most appropriate; for vena caval thrombi only a MRI examination is able to accurately identify any infra- or suprahepatic as well as intracardial extension of the thrombus. The identification of multifocal lesions remains another unsolved problem in preoperative imaging techniques for RCC. Compared to the pathohistological analysis of nephrectomy specimens, neither ultrasonography, color duplex sonography nor regular CT scans are able to identify multifocal lesions with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. The evaluation of unenhanced CT scans together with the enhanced corticomedullary and the nephrogenic phase result in a 100% sensitivity and might represent a valuable option. Angiography has basically been abandoned from the armory of routine imaging techniques. It has, however, a current role in terms of the embolization of large tumors to reduce intraoperative blood loss, and in the palliative management of pain and bleeding due to RCC not amenable to surgery. Finally, we present a diagnostic algorithm for the most informative imaging techniques in the evaluation of RCC.

Preoperative imaging in renal cell cancer

Renal cell cancer (RCC) represents the fifth most common cancer in men, with a rising incidence. Radical cancer surgery remains the only curative treatment in localized and advanced RCC. Therefore, preoperative imaging is most important for the planning of the surgical approach and strategy. The aim of any preoperative imaging in RCC is to differentiate benign from malignant lesions, to adequately assess tumor size, localization and organ confinement, to identify lymph node and/or visceral metastases, and to reliably predict the presence and extent of any thrombus of the vena cava. It is our aim to review the current status of preoperative imaging modalities in RCC. Computed tomography (CT) remains the most appropriate imaging modality to differentiate benign from malignant lesions. Although RCC can appear as iso-, hyper- or hypodense lesions on native CT scans, it usually demonstrates a significant contrast enhancement of about 115 HU and intratumoral areas of necrosis following the intravenous application of contrast medium. Benign masses such as renal oncocytoma are most often homogenous lesions exhibiting hypodensity compared to the normal renal parenchyma following the i.v. application of contrast dye. CT accurately predicts the tumor size with only a 0.5 cm difference as compared to the pathological size of the lesion. The identification of lymph node metastases still remains a problem since the limiting size is 4 mm and CT will result in a false negative rate of about 10%, especially in the presence of micrometastases; the false positive rate of 3-43% is mainly due to reactive hyperplasia. New technologies, such as the multidetector CT with thin collimation and multiplanar reformatting, might result in a diagnostic improvement. The involvement of the adrenal gland can be accurately predicted by CT scans or MRI, allowing an adrenal sparing approach in the case of unsuspicious findings. The detection of visceral metastases appears to be crucial since it has been shown that even patients with metastatic disease might benefit from radical nephrectomy followed by systemic immunotherapy in the case of a good performance status, and the presence of lymph node and pulmonary metastases only. Involvement of the renal vein and the vena cava with tumor thrombus formation will change the surgical strategy. Preoperatively, the presence and the cranial extent of the thrombus need to be known in order to plan the surgical approach. With regard to the extent of renal vein thrombi, a three phase helical CT scan is most appropriate; for vena caval thrombi only a MRI examination is able to accurately identify any infra- or suprahepatic as well as intracardial extension of the thrombus. The identification of multifocal lesions remains another unsolved problem in preoperative imaging techniques for RCC. Compared to the pathohistological analysis of nephrectomy specimens, neither ultrasonography, color duplex sonography nor regular CT scans are able to identify multifocal lesions with acceptable sensitivity and specificity. The evaluation of unenhanced CT scans together with the enhanced corticomedullary and the nephrogenic phase result in a 100% sensitivity and might represent a valuable option. Angiography has basically been abandoned from the armory of routine imaging techniques. It has, however, a current role in terms of the embolization of large tumors to reduce intraoperative blood loss, and in the palliative management of pain and bleeding due to RCC not amenable to surgery. Finally, we present a diagnostic algorithm for the most informative imaging techniques in the evaluation of RCC.