Partial nephrectomy for renal cell carcinoma.

Although radical nephrectomy must still be considered optimal curative therapy for patients with localized renal cell carcinoma and a normal opposite kidney, partial nephrectomy is the treatment of choice when localized renal cell carcinoma is present bilaterally or in a solitary functioning kidney. In such patients, partial nephrectomy allows complete surgical excision of the primary tumor while preserving sufficient renal parenchyma to avoid the need for renal replacement therapy. Parenchyma-sparing techniques are detailed in this article.