Long-term oncological outcomes for radiofrequency ablation of small renal masses

Abstract

Objective: To describe oncology outcomes and complications with radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for T1 renal cell carcinoma in a centre with 14 years of experience. Method: Retrospective study of 95 consecutive patients from 2005 to 2013 who underwent RFA. Those with metastatic disease at time of treatment, incomplete follow up, proven benign pathology, genetic underlying genetic pre-disposition were excluded. 48 patients with 49 tumours met the inclusion criteria. Data was collected on demographics oncological outcomes and complications. Primary outcome measures were disease free survival and cancer specific survival at five and eight years. Results: Median follow up was 83 months. We demonstrate an 87% 5-year disease free survival (DFS) and 70% eight-year DFS. Mean time to progression was 45 months. Cancer specific survival was demonstrated as 97.9% at five years and 93.6% at eight years – all cancer-related deaths had an initial tumour of > 3 cm diameter. 42.9% of the recurrences occurred beyond five years The median time to progression for secondary failure was 50.7 months. One Clavien-Dindo Grade 2 complication was encountered in the series. Outcome: RFA produces comparable long-term oncological outcomes to other modalities for T1 tumours with a low complication rate. Follow up should be considered beyond five years as a significant proportion of the recurrences (42.9%) in this study occurred beyond this point. Level of evidence: 4