In this study 15 years of data from a single hospital were assessed to look at the outcomes of people who had had surgery for localised renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Of the 1895 people who were assessed, 30 (1.6%) had a single local recurrence of their cancer without distant spread (metastases).

In total, 26 of these people were initially treated with local therapy for their recurrence, such as surgery or ablation. Three of these 26 patients went on to have medication and the remaining 4 patients with local recurrence had medication, radiotherapy or active surveillance. Fourteen people (53.8%) had another recurrence over the next couple of years. Those people who had two or more sites of recurrence were more susceptible to a second recurrence.

In this small retrospective review, the researchers show that fewer than half of patients with local recurrence treated with local therapy remain recurrence-free at 2 years of follow-up.

Read more in Practice Update here