Long-Term Survival After Percutaneous Radiofrequency Ablation of Pathologically Proven Renal Cell Carcinoma in 100 Patients

Purpose: To determine the long-term survival of patients treated with percutaneous radiofrequency (RF) ablation for pathologically proven renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Materials And Methods: In this single-center retrospective study, 100 patients with 125 RCCs (100 clear-cell, 19 papillary, and 6 chromophobe) 0.8-8 cm in size treated with RF ablation were evaluated at a single large tertiary-care center between 2004 and 2015. Technical success, primary and secondary technique efficacy, and pre- and postprocedural estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) at 3-6 months and 2-3 years were recorded. Overall survival, cancer-specific survival, and local tumor progression-free survival were calculated by Kaplan-Meier survival curves. Complications were classified per the Clavien-Dindo system. Statistical testing was done via χ tests for proportions and paired t test for changes in eGFR. Statistical significance was set at α = 0.05.

Results: Overall technical success rate was 100%, and primary and secondary technique efficacy rates were 90% and 100%, respectively. Median follow-up was 62.8 months, ranging from 1 to 120 months. The 10-year overall, cancer-specific, and local progression-free survival rates were 32%, 86%, and 92%, respectively. The number of ablation probes used was predictive of residual unablated tumor (P < .001). There were no significant changes in preprocedure vs 2-3-years postprocedure eGFR (65.2 vs 62.1 mL/min/1.73 m; P = .443). There was a 9% overall incidence of complications, the majority of which were grade I.

Conclusions: Image-guided percutaneous RF ablation of RCCs is effective at achieving local control and preventing cancer-specific death within 10 years from initial treatment.