Cytoreductive nephrectomy (CN) is an integral component in treating patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Critics of CN argue that perioperative morbidity or postoperative disease progression may preclude patients from receiving systemic therapy. Laparoscopic cytoreductive nephrectomy (LCN) may allow for reduced morbidity and may increase the likelihood of patients receiving systemic therapy.

From April 2001 to March 2005, 38 patients underwent LCN at our institution. We evaluated perioperative parameters such as demographics, blood loss, operative time, complications, follow-up time, interval to systemic therapy, and survival. A contemporary open cytoreductive surgery group was evaluated for comparison.

The median patient age was 62 years (range 41 to 82). Most patients had a performance status of 1 or less. The median operative time was 188 minutes, and the median blood loss was 175 mL. All specimens were removed intact. The median tumor size was 8 cm (range 3.5 to 14). The median hospitalization was 3 days. Two major (5.7%) and four minor (11.4%) complications occurred, but no perioperative mortality. Postoperatively, 97.4% of patients were eligible for, or received, systemic therapy at a median of 41 days. The overall median survival was 18.1 months. In contrast to open CN, LCN resulted in decreased blood loss and hospital stay, with no differences in complications, operative time, or interval to systemic therapy.

LCN is a safe and effective surgical approach for select patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Our results have indicated that with proper patient selection, LCN is feasible, morbidity is minimized, and systemic therapy is delivered in a timely fashion.