Comparing oncologic outcomes of partial and radical nephrectomy for T2 renal cell carcinoma: a propensity score matching cohort study and an external multicenter validation.

Purpose: There is very limited evidence on the optimal surgical treatment for patients with larger T2 renal tumors. This study aims to evaluate the oncologic outcomes of partial nephrectomy (PN) and radical nephrectomy (RN) in T2 renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

Methods: A retrospective data analysis was conducted on T2 RCC patients who underwent PN or RN between 2004 and 2019 using the SEER database, and validated with data from multiple centers in China from 2014 to 2019. Kaplan-Meier survival curves and multivariate Cox regression analysis were performed to assess the treatment effects of PN and RN.

Results: The Kaplan-Meier survival curves showed that both in the SEER database and Chinese multicenter data, PN was associated with a higher overall survival (OS) compared to RN in the all patients, male and age ≤ 60 years groups after propensity score matching. The multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that PN benefited the OS in the all patients (RN vs. PN, HR = 1.476; 95% CI, 1.113-1.957; P = 0.007), and T2a age ≤ 60 years subgroup (RN vs. PN, HR = 2.147; 95% CI, 1.228-3.754; P = 0.007).

Conclusion: PN is a viable treatment option for patients with T2 RCC, particularly for patients with T2a age ≤ 60 years, where PN is associated with a higher OS rate. However, patients with stage T2 tumors undergoing PN should be referred to high-volume centers for treatment.