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A recent study has shown the incidence and pattern of recurrence of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) in patients who underwent robotic partial nephrectomy for a small renal mass between September 2009 and March 2018.
A total of 335 patients with a small renal mass underwent robotic partial nephrectomy, 269 patients of which were found to have RCC. Eight patients went on to have a recurrence of their RCC, with a recurrence rate of 2.9% after the mean follow-up period of 31 months (range 18-72 months).
Two of these patients (0.7%) had recurrence at the site of entry of the instruments for laparoscopy (trocar site recurrence), one patient (0.37%) had recurrence at the same site as the original tumour, and three patients (1.1%) had recurrence of the disease at the resection bed. Two patients (0.7%) developed a second primary tumour in the other kidney. No cancer-related mortality occurred during the follow-up period.
In conclusion, robotic partial nephrectomy provides great cancer control and high cure rate when used to treat small renal masses that are RCC.