title: Prognostic importance of resection margin width after nephron-sparing surgery for renal cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the relationship between the width of the resection margin and disease progression in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) after nephron-sparing surgery (NSS). During NSS for RCC, it is standard practice to excise the tumor along with a surrounding margin of normal parenchyma (margin of resection) to ensure complete resection of the neoplasm. However, no agreement has been reached on how wide the margin of resection should be.
  
  
  METHODS
  We retrospectively reviewed the histopathologic sections and medical records of 69 patients with localized RCC who had undergone NSS between 1976 and 1988 to determine whether the resection margin, tumor size, TNM stage, and Fuhrman nuclear grade were associated with disease progression (defined as local tumor recurrence or metastasis). The mean postoperative follow-up interval was 8.5 years.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No association was found between the width of the resection margin and disease progression (P = 0.98, log-rank test). Both TNM stage and Fuhrman nuclear grade correlated with disease progression. Patients with T1-T2 tumors had lower progression (P <0.001, log-rank test), and increased Fuhrman nuclear grade correlated with more disease progression (P <0.001, log-rank test).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The width of the resection margin after NSS for RCC does not correlate with long-term disease progression. A histologic tumor-free margin of resection, irrespective of the width of the margin is sufficient to achieve complete local excision of RCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Elias A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Castilla
authors.forename: Louis S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Liou
authors.forename: Neil A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Abrahams
authors.forename: Amr
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fergany
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rybicki
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Myles
authors.forename: Andrew C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Novick
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009399:Nephrons; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012189:Retrospective Studies