Local progression after operative treatment of metastatic kidney cancer

The cases of 78 patients with osseous metastases from kidney cancer were reviewed to determine the rate of local progression after operative resection as compared with more traditional intralesional procedures. Group I consisted of 41 (53%) patients who were treated with intralesional procedures involving internal fixation with or without curettage or polymethylmethacrylate. Of the 41 patients, additional operations were recommended for 17 (41%) of the patients who had local osseous progression. Fourteen additional procedures including nine wide resections with reconstruction, three amputations, and two mass excisions were done. Group II consisted of 37 (47%) patients who were treated with marginal or wide resection with or without reconstruction. In this group, only one patient required additional operative intervention for local osseous progression. Median survival of patients in Group I was 20 months compared with 35 months for patients in Group II. This study shows that despite shorter average survival, patients who undergo intralesional surgery are at high risk of reoperation for local progression. Resectional surgery should be considered in patients with skeletal metastases from kidney cancer to lessen the risk of reoperation for local progression.