Lymph Node Dissection is Not Associated with Improved Survival among Patients Undergoing Cytoreductive Nephrectomy for Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Propensity Score Based Analysis

Among patients undergoing cytoreductive nephrectomy for metastatic renal cell carcinoma, lymph node dissection was not associated with improved oncologic outcomes in the overall cohort, for patients with preoperative radiographic lymphadenopathy or across increasing probability thresholds for pN1 disease. These findings suggest that lymph node dissection at cytoreductive nephrectomy does not confer an oncologic benefit by cytoreduction of nodal metastases. The presence of nodal metastases is associated with more aggressive tumor biology.