title: Long-term results of cryoablation for renal cancer and complex renal masses.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to review our experience with 5-year clinical follow-up after cryosurgical ablation of renal neoplasms. A retrospective review of a de-identified database was undertaken to retrieve information on patients with > or = 36 months' follow-up. Patient demographics, tumor characteristics, radiologic follow-up, and disease-free and overall survival data were evaluated. A total of 48 patients, with a median follow-up of 64 months (range, 36-110 months) and an overall survival rate of 89.5% were identified. Median lesion size was 2.6 cm (range, 1.1-4.6 cm). A total of 12.5% patients were diagnosed with persistent disease during the follow-up period. The cancer-specific survival rate was 100%, and the cancer-free survival rate after a single cryoablation procedure was 87.5%. This improved to 97.5% after a repeat procedure. No major complications were observed. Our data suggest that cryosurgical ablation of renal neoplasms can lead to acceptable long-term disease-free survival. Careful radiologic follow-up strategies are crucial in monitoring treatment success and identifying those who may require a secondary salvage procedure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Geisinger Health System, Danville, Pennsylvania 17822, USA.
authors.forename: Patrick E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Davol
authors.forename: Brant R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Fulmer
authors.forename: Daniel B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Rukstalis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003452:Cryosurgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis