Oncological outcomes in patients undergoing radical nephrectomy and vena cava thrombectomy for renal cell carcinoma with venous extension: A single-centre experience

ObjectiveTo report on the effectiveness of the surgical management of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients with a neoplastic thrombus of the vena cava.Patients and methodsWe examined pre- and post-operative clinical data for all patients who had received a nephrectomy for the management of RCC with a neoplastic thrombus of the vena cava between spanning 10 years. The procedure depended on the exact location and size of the thrombus according to the Mayo Clinic and the 2009 TNM classifications.ResultsA total of 32 patients underwent surgery. Eight of these patients had stage I, nine had stage II, six had stage III and nine had stage IV thrombi according to the Mayo Clinic staging, and twenty were T3b, eight were T3c and four were T4 according to the 2009 TNM classifications. An open abdominal approach was performed in patients with stage I and II thrombi, whereas five of the stage III patients and all of the stage IV patients required combined sternotomies. Five patients whose thrombi extended to the right atrium were treated with a cardiac bypass. The complication rate was 53% and the peri-operative mortality rate was 12.5%. The median follow-up interval was 64 months. The overall and cancer-specific five-year survival rates for all stages combined were 47% and 52%, respectively.ConclusionSurgical resection remains the first-line treatment for patients with RCC infiltrating the vena cava, but surgical morbidity is prevalent and survival is poor.