The importance of surgical margins in renal cell and urothelial carcinomas

Abstract

This chapter reviews the prevalence, outcomes, and management of positive surgical margins for patients with either renal cell or urothelial carcinomas. Though renal cell carcinoma tends to be resistant to conventional radio- or chemotherapy, kidney cancer patients with positive surgical margins can often be managed with close surveillance with acceptable outcomes. On the other hand, urothelial tumors tend to be more aggressive, and positive surgical margins after radical cystectomy often requires adjuvant therapy.

Keywords: nephron-sparing surgery; positive surgical margins; radical cystectomy; renal cell carcinoma; urothelial carcinoma.