title: Outcomes following partial nephrectomy by tumor size.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Pathological evaluation of renal tumors treated with ablative and observational therapy is often limited and renal tumor size may be the only prognostic index available. We established long-term survival in patients following partial nephrectomy according to tumor size.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective review of our nephrectomy registry was performed to identify patients who underwent partial nephrectomy for localized (NX/N0/cM0) solid renal tumors 7 cm or less at our institution between 1970 and 2004. Overall, cancer specific, distant metastasis-free and local recurrence-free survival was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and stratified according to tumor size in all tumors treated and in patients with pathologically confirmed renal cell carcinoma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified 798 patients who underwent partial nephrectomy for a 7 cm or less renal tumor. Median patient age was 63.5 years and median tumor size was 3.0 cm. Renal cell carcinoma was present in 637 tumors (80%). Overall, cancer specific, metastasis-free and local recurrence-free survival significantly decreased with each 1 cm increase in size in all tumors treated and in those with pathologically confirmed renal cell carcinoma (each p <0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Partial nephrectomy is associated with durable cancer control in patients with renal tumors 7 cm or less, of which most represent renal cell carcinoma. Tumor size represents a valuable prognostic index in the absence of pathological evaluation of the entire tumor specimen. These results may be used for comparison against outcomes following ablative and observational therapy, for which tumor size is the only prognostic index available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA.
authors.forename: Paul L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Crispen
authors.forename: Stephen A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Boorjian
authors.forename: Christine M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lohse
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Sebo
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Cheville
authors.forename: Michael L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Blute
authors.forename: Bradley C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Leibovich
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009392:Nephrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D047368:Tumor Burden