Cytoreductive Partial Nephrectomy Does Not Undermine Cancer Control in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Population-Based Study

ObjectivesWe examined the population-based rates of cancer-specific survival in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (MRCC) treated with either partial (PN) or radical cytoreductive nephrectomy (RN).MethodsPatients diagnosed with MRCC and treated with either PN or RN were identified within nine SEER cancer registries. Matched and unmatched Kaplan-Meier survival analyses, as well as multivariable Cox regression models compared the effect of RN (n = 1997, 97.8%) vs. PN (n = 46, 2.2%) on cancer-specific survival (CSS). Covariates consisted of age, gender, community type (rural vs urban), race, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) registry, tumor size and year of diagnosis.ResultsIn multivariable unmatched Cox regression analyses, no statistically significantly difference was found in CSS between the two groups (hazard ratio [HR] 1.40, P = .16). Similarly, no difference in CSS was found in the matched analyses (HR 1.35, log rank P = .34).ConclusionCytoreductive PN does not appear to undermine survival in patients with MRCC.