Survival outcomes in patients with large (≥7cm) clear cell renal cell carcinomas treated with nephron-sparing surgery versus radical nephrectomy: Results of a multicenter cohort with long-term follow-up

Real-world study on the characteristics, post-nephrectomy journey, and outcomes of patients with early-stage renal cell carcinoma based on risk groups

OBJECTIVES

To examine real-world characteristics, journey, and outcomes among patients with locoregional, nonmetastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of medical records from the ConcertAI Oncology Dataset was performed on adults in the United States with newly diagnosed nonmetastatic RCC between January 2012-December 2017 who received surgical treatment, and were followed until August 2021. Patients were stratified based on the risk of recurrence after nephrectomy. Recurrence rate and survival outcomes were assessed.

RESULTS

The cohort (n = 439) had a median age of 64 years, 66.1% were male, and 76.5% had clear-cell histology. The median follow-up time from nephrectomy was 39.3 months overall, 41.0 months for intermediate-high-risk patients (n = 377; 85.9%) and 24.1 months for high-risk patients (n = 62; 14.1%). For intermediate-high- and high-risk patients, respectively, 68.4% and 56.5% had ≥1 medical oncologist visit after nephrectomy. Of 260 patients with documentation of postoperative imaging assessments, 72% were ordered by medical oncologists, and the median time from initial nephrectomy to the first scan was 110 days (intermediate-high-risk) and 51 days (high-risk). Provider-documented recurrence occurred in 223 (50.8%) patients, of whom 41.7% had ≥1 medical oncologist visit before the recurrence. Three-year disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival rates were 49.4% and 80.8% (all patients): 27.7% and 64.7% (high-risk); and 52.9% and 83.3% (intermediate-high-risk).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study reports low DFS after nephrectomy for patients with intermediate-high- and high-risk RCC. Subsequent approval and use of new and newly approved adjuvant therapeutic options could potentially delay or prevent recurrence.

Multiple factors influence decision making for the surgical treatment in patients with renal cell carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Surgical strategy in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is considered based on the renal function. Partial nephrectomy (PN) preserves kidney function better than radical nephrectomy (RN), lowering risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). The aim was to evaluate whether renal function and other clinical variables were important for surgical treatment selection.

METHODS

Patients with RCC, surgically treated between 1994 and 2018 were included. There were 663 patients in all stages, 265 women and 398 men, mean age 66 years.

CLINICAL DATA

estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), WHO performance status (WHO-PS), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), surgery, T-stage, M-stage, RCC type, tumor size, age, and gender were extracted from the medical records. Statistical analysis included Mann-Whitney U, X2-test, and logistic regression analysis.

RESULTS

Of 663 patients, 455 were treated with RN and 208 with PN. In all patients, preoperative eGFR was significantly higher in PN (80.8) than in RN (77.1, p = 0.015). Using logistic regression tumor size (odds ratio [OR]: 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.95-0.98, T-stage (OR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.33-0.65), WHO-PS (OR: 0.39; 95% CI: 0.04-0.57), and CCI (OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.05-1.44), associated to treatment selection, while eGFR, M-stage, age, and gender did not. In cTa subgroup, eGFR was also higher in PN (84.6) than in RN (75.0, p = 0.007). Using logistic regression, tumor size (OR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.83-0.98) and WHO-PS (OR: 0.36; 95% CI: 0.20-0.66) associated to treatment selection, while eGFR, CCI, age, and gender did not.

CONCLUSION

Tumor size, CCI scores, T-stage, and WHO-PS, all had an impact on the surgical strategy for all RCC patients. In patients with T1a RCC, tumor size and WHO-PS associated independently with treatment decision. After adjusted analysis, renal function lost its independent association with the treatment strategy in RCC patients.

[Treatment of localized renal cell carcinoma]

BACKGROUND

Both partial nephrectomy (pNx) and total nephrectomy (TNx) are the mainstay of the surgical treatment of renal cell carcinoma. In smaller masses, ablative treatment as well as surveillance are possible options.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this article is to provide a closer look at the surgical methods, active surveillance and ablative options as well as the current evidence to support their use.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

This study is based on a selective literature review regarding pNx and TNx for renal cell carcinoma using the PubMed database and the review of current European and American guidelines on surgical treatment and conservative options for renal cell carcinoma.

RESULTS

The choice of surgical method depends on the intrarenal tumor configuration as well as patient comorbidities. While pNx is used for smaller localized masses TNx is usually performed in larger more complex tumors. Both methods can be performed using a minimally invasive (laparoscopic or robotically assisted) or an open approach. In patients with severe comorbidities or a limited life expectancy, local ablative treatment options as well as surveillance strategies are suitable strategies.

A Weakly Supervised Deep Learning Model and Human-Machine Fusion for Accurate Grading of Renal Cell Carcinoma from Histopathology Slides

(1) Background: The Fuhrman grading (FG) system is widely used in the management of clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). However, it is affected by observer variability and irreproducibility in clinical practice. We aimed to use a deep learning multi-class model called SSL-CLAM to assist in diagnosing the FG status of ccRCC patients using digitized whole slide images (WSIs). (2) Methods: We recruited 504 eligible ccRCC patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) cohort and obtained 708 hematoxylin and eosin-stained WSIs for the development and internal validation of the SSL-CLAM model. Additionally, we obtained 445 WSIs from 188 ccRCC eligible patients in the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) cohort as an independent external validation set. A human-machine fusion approach was used to validate the added value of the SSL-CLAM model for pathologists. (3) Results: The SSL-CLAM model successfully diagnosed the five FG statuses (Grade-0, 1, 2, 3, and 4) of ccRCC, and achieved AUCs of 0.917 and 0.887 on the internal and external validation sets, respectively, outperforming a junior pathologist. For the normal/tumor classification (Grade-0, Grade-1/2/3/4) task, the SSL-CLAM model yielded AUCs close to 1 on both the internal and external validation sets. The SSL-CLAM model achieved a better performance for the two-tiered FG (Grade-0, Grade-1/2, and Grade-3/4) task, with AUCs of 0.936 and 0.915 on the internal and external validation sets, respectively. The human-machine diagnostic performance was superior to that of the SSL-CLAM model, showing promising prospects. In addition, the high-attention regions of the SSL-CLAM model showed that with an increasing FG status, the cell nuclei in the tumor region become larger, with irregular contours and increased cellular pleomorphism. (4) Conclusions: Our findings support the feasibility of using deep learning and human-machine fusion methods for FG classification on WSIs from ccRCC patients, which may assist pathologists in making diagnostic decisions.

Peritoneal carcinomatosis after partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma: Our experience and literature review

OBJECTIVE

Peritoneal carcinomatosis associated with renal cell carcinoma is an infrequent entity, usually associated with large renal masses, and with a very rare presentation after surgery of localized renal tumors. Our objective is to review the literature and analyze the factors involved in the development of peritoneal carcinomatosis after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy in localized tumors.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We present our experience with two cases of peritoneal carcinomatosis after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy. We reviewed the literature and analyzed the factors associated with the development of peritoneal carcinomatosis after laparoscopic partial surgery in renal cell carcinoma.

RESULTS

Between 2005-2018, 225 patients underwent laparoscopic partial nephrectomy for localized renal neoplasia in our service. Two patients developed peritoneal carcinomatosis during follow-up, at 1.5 and 7 years after surgery. Few cases of postoperative peritoneal carcinomatosis for renal neoplasia have been described in the literature, being more frequently associated with large renal masses, with multiple metastases at diagnosis, with a poor prognosis. The dissemination of tumor cells during surgery, direct tumor extension or metastasis by hematogenous route, are among the factors involved in the development of this condition.

CONCLUSIONS

Peritoneal carcinomatosis after laparoscopic partial nephrectomy constitutes a very rare event. However, it should be taken into consideration, and, since it is the only factor we can influence, we must maximize precautions during the surgical act, following oncological principles.

On-Clamp vs. Off-Clamp Robot-Assisted Partial Nephrectomy for cT2 Renal Tumors: Retrospective Propensity-Score-Matched Multicenter Outcome Analysis

We compared perioperative outcomes after on-clamp versus off-clamp robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) for >7 cm renal masses. A multicenter dataset was queried for patients who had undergone RAPN for a cT2cN0cM0 kidney tumor from July 2007 to February 2022. The Trifecta achievement (negative surgical margins, no severe complications, and ≤ 30% postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) reduction) was considered a surrogate of surgical quality. Overall, 316 cases were included in the analysis, and 58% achieved the Trifecta. A propensity-score-matched analysis generated two cohorts of 89 patients homogeneous for age, ASA score, preoperative eGFR, and RENAL score (all p > 0.21). Compared to the on-clamp approach, OT was significantly shorter in the off-clamp group (80 vs. 190 min; p < 0.001), the incidence of sRFD was lower (22% vs. 40%; p = 0.01), and the Trifecta rate higher (66% vs. 46%; p = 0.01). In a crude analysis, >20 min of hilar clamping was associated with a significantly higher risk of sRFD (OR: 2.30; 95%CI: 1.13−4.64; p = 0.02) and with reduced probabilities of achieving the Trifecta (OR: 0.46; 95%CI: 0.27−0.79; p = 0.004). Purely off-clamp RAPN seems to be a safe and viable option to treat cT2 renal masses and may outperform the on-clamp approach regarding perioperative surgical outcomes.

Clinical and oncological outcomes of open partial nephrectomy versus robot assisted partial nephrectomy over 15 years

Partial nephrectomy (PN) is the gold standard surgical treatment for localized kidney cancer. The objective of our study was to compare clinical and perioperative outcomes of open partial nephrectomy (OPN) and robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN). We retrospectively collected all patients who underwent PN for kidney cancer between 2007 and 2019 at two French academic urology departments. Clinical and perioperative outcomes and complications were compared between the OPN group and the RAPN group. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared using the log-rank test. We included 405 patients. The maximum follow-up time was 13.6 years in the OPN group and 7.1 years in the RAPN group. The OPN group was associated with more blood loss and longer hospital stay (respectively, 287 ml vs. 62.1 ml; p < 0.001 and 8.54 days vs. 4.96 days; p < 0.001). Ischemia time was shorter in the OPN group (11.4 min vs. 16.9 min; p < 0.001). The rate of complications during hospitalization and after discharge from hospital was higher in the OPN group (respectively, n = 51 vs. 30; p = 0.031 and n = 31 vs. 14; p < 0.001). RFS and OS were similar in both groups. In our study, RAPN has better perioperative outcomes with shorter hospital stay and less blood loss but also fewer early and late complications. However, we did not find any difference in terms of RFS and OS.

Cone-beam CT-guided tagging of endophytic renal tumors with indocyanine green via trans-arterial selective delivery in patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy with near infrared fluorescence imaging

PURPOSE

To evaluate the safety, efficacy, and clinical impact of pre-operative cone-beam CT (CBCT)-guided selective embolization of endophytic renal tumors with the fluorescent dye indocyanine green (ICG) and lipiodol in patients undergoing robot-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) using near infrared fluorescent imaging (NIFI).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Patients with renal endophytic tumors eligible for RAPN and trans-arterial embolization with ICG and lipiodol were prospectively included. Technical success was defined as the completion of the embolization procedure. Radiographic success, defined as the lipiodol accumulation into the nodule, was classified as poor, moderate, good, and optimal based on post-embolization CBCT. Surgical visibility of the tumors during RAPN with the use of NIFI was classified as: not visible, visible with poorly defined margins, and visible with well-defined margins.

RESULTS

Forty-one patients underwent pre-operative selective embolization. Technical success was 100%. Lipiodol accumulation at CBCT was poor in 2/41 (4.9%), moderate in 6/41 (14.6%), good in 25/41 (61.0%), and optimal in 8/41 patients (19.5%). During RAPN with NIFI, tumors were visible with well-defined margins in 26/41 (63.4%), visible with blurred margins in 14/41 (34.1%) and not visible in 1/41 (2.4%) of cases. There were no adverse events following endovascular embolization.

CONCLUSION

Pre-operative trans-arterial super-selective embolization of endophytic renal tumors with ICG and lipiodol in patients undergoing RAPN is safe and effective, allowing accurate intraoperative visualization and resection of endophytic tumors.

Functional, oncological outcomes and safety of nephron-sparing surgery versus radical nephrectomy in patients with localised renal cell carcinoma with high anatomical complexity: a retrospective cohort study with propensity score matching method

BACKGROUND

Nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) is widely applied for small renal masses. However, the indication of NSS in patients with localised renal cell carcinoma (RCC) with high anatomical complexity is controversial. Thus, we compare functional and oncological outcomes, and safety of NSS versus radical nephrectomy (RN) in patients with localised RCC with high anatomical complexity Radius, Exophytic/endophytic, Nearness, Anterior/posterior, Location. (R.E.N.A.L.) score ≥10.

METHODS

We evaluated 575 patients with localised RCC that underwent NSS or RN at our centre between January 2013 and December 2018. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, tumour data, surgery procedure, perioperative data and survival data were recorded. After propensity score matching, the variables were compared by binary paired logistic regression. The change in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was compared with covariance analysis adjusted for baseline value. Recurrence and survival were calculated using Kaplan-Meier curves with log-rank tests. P<0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

RESULTS

In the matched group, NSS showed lower eGFR loss compared with the RN group (17.81 mL/min/1.73 m² vs 28.28 mL/min/1.73 m², p<0.001). Moreover, the recurrence-free survival (p=0.002), cardiocerebrovascular disease-specific survival (p=0.015) and overall survival (p=0.017) of patients with NSS were better than those that underwent RN. Cancer-specific survival in both groups showed no difference (p=0.323). The incidence of minor and major complications in the two groups showed no difference (p=0.144, p=0.108).

CONCLUSION

NSS resulted in better preservation of renal function and oncological outcomes compared with RN, with acceptable complications. These findings could help improve clinical decision making for patients with localised RCC with high anatomical complexity.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ChiCTR2000040652.

The Benign Renal Masses that Were Exposed after Nephron-Sparing Surgery: "Postsurgical Fatty Tumor." Is It Related to the Surgical Technique?

After nephron-sparing surgery (NSS), postsurgical fatty tumor could be mistakenly reported as angiomyolipoma during radiologic imaging of some patients. In the present paper, we studied the postsurgical fatty tumor detected after NSS but not covered before in the literature. In addition, we also evaluated whether the postsurgical fatty tumor was related to the surgical technique employed. Patients admitted to the urology department of our university hospital from 2014 to 2019 and operated with open NSS were evaluated retrospectively. We detected those 156 patients were operated with NSS. Nine patients with angiomyolipoma as primary pathology and four patients with surgical border positivity were excluded from the study. The patients were divided into two groups based on the repair of tumor extraction region. In Group 1, fatty tissue was used for repair, and Group 2 is the primary repair group. In all, 143 patients (Group 1 = 79, and Group 2 = 64) were included in the study. No demographic and radiologic differences, such as number of patients, age, gender, positioning of tumor, mass localization, tumor diameter, and RENAL nephrometry scoring system, were detected between the two groups. Postsurgical fatty tumors were detected in 28 patients in Group 1 and in two patients in Group 2 (P < 0.001). In patients with negative surgical margins after partial nephrectomy, lesions that were radiologically detected mimicking as angiomyolipoma were defined as “postsurgical fatty tumor.” This mass containing adipose tissue only neither depicted vascularization and enhancement nor increase in size for at least 1 year. We assumed that these lesions must be followed as benign lesions not requiring additional treatment.

Partial Nephrectomy Versus Radical Nephrectomy for Clinical T2 or Higher Stage Renal Tumors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

OBJECTIVE

The choice of surgical method for clinically diagnosed T2 or higher stage kidney cancer remains controversial. Here, we systematically reviewed and collected published comparative studies on renal function, oncologic outcomes, and perioperative results of partial nephrectomy (PN) versus radical nephrectomy (RN) for larger renal tumors (T2 and above), and performed a meta-analysis.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

Following searches of PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase, the original studies on PN vs. RN in the treatment of T2 renal cancer were screened through strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. RevMan 5.4 was used for data analysis of the perioperative results, renal function, and oncologic outcomes of the two surgical methods for T2 renal tumor therapy. The weighted mean difference was used as the combined effect size for continuous variables, while the odds ratio (OR) or risk ratio (RR) was used as the combined effect size for binary variables. Both variables used a 95% confidence interval (CI) to estimate statistical accuracy. In cases with low heterogeneity, the fixed-effects model was used to pool the estimated value; otherwise, the random-effects model was used when significant heterogeneity was detected.

RESULTS

Fifteen retrospective studies including 5,056 patients who underwent nephrectomy (PN: 1975, RN: 3081) were included. The decline in estimated GFR (eGFR) after PN was lower than RN [(MD: -11.74 ml/min/1.73 m2; 95% CI: -13.15, -10.32; p < 0.00001)]. The postoperative complication rate of PN was higher than that of PN (OR: 2.09; 95% CI: 1.56, 2.80; p < 0.00001)], and the postoperative overall survival (OS) of PN was higher than that of RN (HR: 0.77; 95% CI: 0.65, 0.90; p = 0.002), and tumor recurrence (RR, 0.69; 95% CI: 0.53, 0.90; p = 0.007). No obvious publication bias was found in the funnel chart of the OS rates of the two groups of patients.

CONCLUSIONS

PN is beneficial for patients with T2 renal tumors in terms of OS and renal function protection. However, it is also associated with a higher risk of surgical complications.

Minimizing Population Health Loss in Times of Scarce Surgical Capacity During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Crisis and Beyond: A Modeling Study

OBJECTIVES

Coronavirus disease 2019 has put unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems worldwide, leading to a reduction of the available healthcare capacity. Our objective was to develop a decision model to estimate the impact of postponing semielective surgical procedures on health, to support prioritization of care from a utilitarian perspective.

METHODS

A cohort state-transition model was developed and applied to 43 semielective nonpediatric surgical procedures commonly performed in academic hospitals. Scenarios of delaying surgery from 2 weeks were compared with delaying up to 1 year and no surgery at all. Model parameters were based on registries, scientific literature, and the World Health Organization Global Burden of Disease study. For each surgical procedure, the model estimated the average expected disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) per month of delay.

RESULTS

Given the best available evidence, the 2 surgical procedures associated with most DALYs owing to delay were bypass surgery for Fontaine III/IV peripheral arterial disease (0.23 DALY/month, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-0.36) and transaortic valve implantation (0.15 DALY/month, 95% CI: 0.09-0.24). The 2 surgical procedures with the least DALYs were placing a shunt for dialysis (0.01, 95% CI: 0.005-0.01) and thyroid carcinoma resection (0.01, 95% CI: 0.01-0.02).

CONCLUSION

Expected health loss owing to surgical delay can be objectively calculated with our decision model based on best available evidence, which can guide prioritization of surgical procedures to minimize population health loss in times of scarcity. The model results should be placed in the context of different ethical perspectives and combined with capacity management tools to facilitate large-scale implementation.

Learnable image histograms-based deep radiomics for renal cell carcinoma grading and staging

Fuhrman cancer grading and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) cancer staging systems are typically used by clinicians in the treatment planning of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), a common cancer in men and women worldwide. Pathologists typically use percutaneous renal biopsy for RCC grading, while staging is performed by volumetric medical image analysis before renal surgery. Recent studies suggest that clinicians can effectively perform these classification tasks non-invasively by analyzing image texture features of RCC from computed tomography (CT) data. However, image feature identification for RCC grading and staging often relies on laborious manual processes, which is error prone and time-intensive. To address this challenge, this paper proposes a learnable image histogram in the deep neural network framework that can learn task-specific image histograms with variable bin centers and widths. The proposed approach enables learning statistical context features from raw medical data, which cannot be performed by a conventional convolutional neural network (CNN). The linear basis function of our learnable image histogram is piece-wise differentiable, enabling back-propagating errors to update the variable bin centers and widths during training. This novel approach can segregate the CT textures of an RCC in different intensity spectra, which enables efficient Fuhrman low (I/II) and high (III/IV) grading as well as RCC low (I/II) and high (III/IV) staging. The proposed method is validated on a clinical CT dataset of 159 patients from The Cancer Imaging Archive (TCIA) database, and it demonstrates 80% and 83% accuracy in RCC grading and staging, respectively.

[New aspects in the treatment of localized renal cell carcinoma]

BACKGROUND

Localized renal cell carcinoma is increasingly relevant in daily urological practice due to earlier diagnosis and higher life expectancy.

OBJECTIVES

To analyze and compare current treatment evidence for localized renal cell carcinoma regarding new aspects of nephron-sparing surgery, the different surgical approaches and focal therapy.

METHODS

A systematic search was performed to identify relevant publications from 2018 and 2019.

RESULTS

Prospective randomized trials comparing nephrectomy with partial nephrectomy, the three different surgical approaches with each other, and focal therapy with surgery are still lacking. Positive effects on survival by partial nephrectomy could be demonstrated, even though partial nephrectomy has a higher morbidity than radical nephrectomy. Older patients (>75 years) with advanced localized renal cell carcinoma did not appear to benefit from partial nephrectomy so far, but minimally invasive surgical approaches are underrepresented in such studies. Minimally invasive partial nephrectomy is superior to the open approach, and robot-assisted partial nephrectomy has better results than laparoscopy. Focal therapy of kidney tumors is technically safe and feasible, but relevant comparisons with partial nephrectomy are still lacking.

CONCLUSIONS

Partial nephrectomy is still the gold standard treatment for localized renal cell carcinoma, it should be preferably performed by a robot-assisted approach. Focal therapy can serve as an alternative in highly selected cases.