Enucleation of tumor versus partial nephrectomy as conservative treatment of renal cell carcinoma.

In patients with renal insufficiency, solitary kidney, or bilateral renal malignancies, conservative surgery for renal cell carcinoma has been suggested. The authors treated 17 such patients with either enucleation of tumor or partial nephrectomy. Overall survival from disease in this series was 58.8%. Seventy percent of patients undergoing enucleation and 42.9% undergoing partial nephrectomy survived with a mean follow-up period of 5 years. Survival or local recurrence rate after enucleative surgery is an effective treatment of renal carcinoma in selected patients, and despite concerns about tumor invasion of the pseudocapsule, the clinical data do not indicate any difference in survival. There was no significant difference between enucleation of tumor and partial nephrectomy regarding morbidity, mortality, or recurrence rate.