Percutaneous endoscopic treatment of benign and malignant renal pelvis carcinoma: A single-center experience

Abstract

Background Percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is a safe and efficient treatment for intro-renal diseases, most of which are calculus disease. In this study, we carried out percutaneous endoscopic nephron-sparing ablation for renal carcinoma in carefully selected patients. Our aim was to evaluate whether percutaneous endoscopic nephron-sparing operation was feasible for patients with renal cell carcinoma.Methods A total of 15 patients with renal pelvis carcinoma were treated with laser evaporation under percutaneous endoscopy between January 2015 and September 2019 ( group I ). Another 13 patients who received standard radical nephroureterectomy were recruited as the control group (group II). We recorded demographic data of the patients, the indication for surgery, tumor pathological grade, size and side of tumor, and the intraoperative and postoperative outcome, including the duration of surgery, length of hospital stay, and complication rate, as well as progression-free survival (PFS).Results In both groups, all of the patients received flexible ureteroscopy. In group I, 14 patients had transitional renal cell carcinoma (UCC), four had pathological grade I, nine had grade II, and one had hemangiopericytoma. In group II, all patients had UCC, five had pathological grade I, and eight had grade II. In group I, the mean operation time was 118 min (65–236 min), the mean blood loss was 110 ml (55–220 ml), and the mean hospital stay was 9 days (7–12 days). During follow-up, two patients died and two had recurrence; among them, one had systematic bone metastasis. The PFS rate was 66.7% (10/15). In group II, the mean operation time was 265 min (185–436 min), the mean blood loss was 133 ml (85–240 ml), and the mean hospital stay was 13 days (9–16 days). During the follow-up, two patients died and there was no local or systematic metastasis. The PFS rate was 84.6% (11/13). There was no significant difference in blood loss between the groups. However, the operation time and mean hospital stay were significantly shorter in group I compared with that in group II ( P < 0.05). But the PFS rate was significantly higher in group II than in group I (P < 0.05).Conclusions This study shows that laser evaporation under percutaneous endoscopy for renal pelvis carcinoma is a safe, effective, and technically feasible procedure for treating benign and malignant renal pelvis carcinoma.