Partial nephrectomy vs. radical nephrectomy for stage I renal cell carcinoma in the presence of predisposing systemic diseases for chronic kidney disease

Aim of this study is to compare the effects of partial nephrectomy (PN) and radical nephrectomy (RN) for stage I renal cell carcinoma (RCC) on renal functions in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) and/or hypertension (HT). Charts of patients who underwent surgery for stage I RCC in our department were retrospectively reviewed and patients with DM and/or HT were enrolled. Preoperative and postoperative estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) were calculated according to the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) formulation for both RN and PN groups. Groups were compared for patient demographics, preoperative eGFR, postoperative eGFR and ΔeGFR [(preoperative eGFR) - (postoperative eGFR)] which reflects the renal functional loss. There were 85 patients in the RN and 33 patients in the PN groups. Demographic data were similar but the patients in the PN group had smaller tumor size compared to RN group (32.2 ± 11.8 mm vs 47.1 ± 15.2 mm, p < 0.001). Preoperative eGFR did not differ between groups (75 ± 28.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs 75.5 ± 23.8 mL/min/1.73 m2 in RN and PN groups, p = 0.929). However, there were significant differences between groups in terms of postoperative eGFR (57.5 ± 21.7 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs 74 ± 27.5 mL/min/1.73 m2 in RN and PN groups, p < 0.001) and ΔeGFR (17.5 ± 4.2 mL/min/1.73 m2 vs 1.5 ± 0.4 mL/min/1.73 m2 in RN and PN groups, p < 0.001). Our findings favor the use of PN over RN for stage I RCC whenever feasible in patients with predisposing systemic diseases for chronic kidney disease for better preservation of renal functions.