A recent study compared the success of robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and ablation (cryotherapy or radio-frequency ablation) for the treatment of early stage (stage T1) kidney cancer in older people (aged 75 years or older).

A total of 205 people were included in the study. These people had 209 procedures between them (143 robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and 66 ablation). The people who had ablation were generally older, frailer and more of them had a history of kidney surgery than the people who had robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. However, the tumours were generally larger in the people who had robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Operation time and length of hospital stay were longer and kidney function was poorer in the people who had robot-assisted partial nephrectomy. Survival was similar after robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and ablation for elderly people with early stage kidney cancer.

In summary, robot-assisted partial nephrectomy and ablation have similar outcomes for early stage kidney cancer in older people (over 75 years); however, operation time, decrease in kidney function, and length of hospital stay were lower in people who had ablation.

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