The use of partial nephrectomy (PN) to treat patients with large renal cell carcinoma (RCC) remains controversial, particularly among elderly patients. The present study compared the improvement in cancer-specific survival (CSS) in patients with pT1b RCC who underwent either PN or radical nephrectomy (RN) and investigated the effects of age and sex on CSS. A total of 20,343 patients were identified in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results database. Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox regression analysis were used to compare the CSS of patients who received PN vs. those who received RN. In total, 5,375 (26.42%) and 14,968 (73.58%) patients with pT1b RCC received PN and RN, respectively. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression analysis indicated that PN resulted in an improved CSS compared with RN (P<0.001). In addition, PN was observed to be beneficial in male (P<0.001) and female patients <75 years of age. However, it was not beneficial for female patients of ≥75 years of age (P=0.197). These preliminary results warrant further investigation in clinical trials.
Keywords: cancer-specific survival; nephrectomy; partial nephrectomy; renal cell carcinoma.
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