Context: Although an ever-increasing number of patients are being incidentally diagnosed with small renal masses, there is still a sizable portion of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC) who present with locally advanced or metastatic disease. Those with locally advanced disease present a challenge because they may be difficult to distinguish from those with organ-confined disease at the time of diagnosis. However, this distinction is important because they may require a different management strategy. These advanced RCC patients include those with venous tumour thrombi, extracapsular tumour extension, adjacent organ involvement, as well as nodal disease.
Evidence acquisition: A thorough literature search of the following terms was undertaken: advanced renal cell carcinoma, renal cell carcinoma venous tumour thrombi, renal cell carcinoma extra-capsular extension, renal cell carcinoma nodal metastasis, and locally recurrent renal cell carcinoma. An international expert panel convened by the International Consultation on Urologic Diseases and the European Association of Urology reviewed these articles.
Evidence synthesis: Review of the available literature allowed for assessment of the level of evidence for the diagnosis, management, and therapy of locally advanced RCC with the ultimate goal of providing a synthesis of this information with a consensus statement from leaders in the field.
Conclusions: Despite the advances in prognostic markers and targeted molecular therapies for RCC, currently the only curative treatment for locally advanced RCC is aggressive surgical resection.
Copyright © 2011 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.