Laparoscopic Removal of Kidney Tumors Proven Safe and Effective

Monday, August 18, 2003

Media Contact: Anne Tewksbury
Public Affairs
480-301-4368

For Immediate Release – August 18, 2003

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – A recent study performed at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale has shown that laparoscopy is just as effective at removing cancerous kidney tumors as open surgery. In one of the largest studies of its type, Paul Andrews, M.D., urologist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, and colleagues performed 20 laparoscopic partial nephrectomies (surgical removal of a kidney), in which only the tumor on the kidney was removed, as opposed to the entire kidney.

The increased use of advanced diagnostic technologies has led to a greater incidence in the detection of small tumors on the kidney. Removing these smaller masses laparoscopically results in less pain and shortened convalescence for the patient.

"When we find these types of masses, our goal is to remove them while sparing the rest of the kidney," says Dr. Andrews. "This type of surgery is well suited to laparoscopy. Patients are able to go home in one to two days, as compared to the five to seven day hospital stays common with an open surgery. The most important thing, though, is that we now know that laparoscopy can be just as effective at removing masses from the kidney as open surgery while also preserving kidney function."

Each tumor in the study appeared localized and had been diagnosed incidentally by ultrasound or computerized topography (CT). Subsequent pathology reports identified that 14 of the masses that were removed were malignant. All were determined to have negative margins, meaning all of the cancer was removed, after surgery. Upon short-term follow-up, no tumor recurrences were reported. The Mayo Clinic study will be performing long-term follow-up to compare cancer control with that of open surgery.

In the United States, about 30,000 new cases of kidney cancer are detected each year, and surgery is the only curative treatment for this type of localized cancer. In the year 2001, an estimated 30,800 Americans were diagnosed with kidney cancer and 12,100 Americans died of this disease.

Mayo Clinic physicians are at the forefront of the development of kidney-sparing surgery to treat kidney cancer, offering patients an option to having their kidney removed. For patients who have small solid masses 4 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) in size and no other suspicious features, a kidney-sparing procedure offers excellent protection against cancer recurrence, with improved odds for maintaining good long-term kidney function.

"The use of laparoscopy in urological surgery has expanded in the last decade," said Dr. Andrews. "With increased physician experience and training, improved equipment and increasing patient demand, laparoscopic procedures can be expected increasingly to replace open procedures."

The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center – Scottsdale was designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 2002. Mayo Clinic, including the Scottsdale site and sites in Rochester, Minn., and Jacksonville, Fla., is one of only 40 Cancer Centers in the United States to have this advanced designation.

Mayo Clinic is a private group practice of medicine dedicated to providing diagnosis and treatment of patient illnesses through a systematic focus on individual patient needs. As a leading academic medical center in the Southwest, Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale focuses on providing specialty and surgical care in more than 66 disciplines at its outpatient facility in north Scottsdale and at Mayo Clinic Hospital. The 205-bed hospital is located at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard (north of Bell Road) in northeast Phoenix, and provides inpatient care to support the medical and surgical specialties of the Clinic, which is located at 134th Street and Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale.

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