Medical Specialties > Interventional Radiology > Ablation Solutions > Cryoablation Indications > Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal Cell Carcinoma

Kidney cancer is the 7th most common cancer in men, representing 5% of all malignancies, and the 10th most common cancer in women (3% malignancies).1 More than 90% of kidney cancer diagnoses are renal cell carcinoma (RCC), with the main histological subtype being clear-cell – the most aggressive form.2, 3

The incidence rate of RCC is growing (about 2.4% per year), partly due to an increase in the incidental detection of small lesions (<4 cm)4

Depending on the stage of severity, kidney tumours are classified into1:

  • stage I: the tumor is limited to the kidney with a maximum diameter of 7 cm, and in particular:
    • StageT1a (≤4 cm);
    • Stage T1b (4-7 cm);
  • stage III: the tumour is no longer confined to the kidney, but there are no distant metastases;
  • stage IV: cancer has metastasised to other parts of the body.
renal cell carcinoma epidemiology
Kidney cancer mainly occurs in older men, with a worldwide incidence per year of 6.1 per 100.000 in males and 3.2 per 100.000 in females.5
renal cell carcinoma incidence
RCC is the 7th most common type of neoplasm in the developed world, accounting for around 2% of global cancer diagnoses and deaths.3

Subtypes

Renal cell carcinoma has a variety of subtypes, that can be distinguished by how the cancer cells appear microscopically. Clear-cell, papillary, and chromophobe histological types account for 90% of all RCC.3

Tumour Subtype

Incidence

Description

Use of CA

Clear-cell RCC

 75% A
  • Clear-cell is the most common and aggressive type of RCC (75% of cases) and takes its name from the pale colour of its cells.A, D
  • It usually affects male adults over 50 years of age.B, C
  • A recent study confirms percutaneous cryoablation to be an effective treatment option for patients with clinical stage T1a papillary RCC and clear-cell RCC, with  results being particularly favourable for papillary RCC.E

  • A case study has demonstrated cryoablation to be an effective salvage treatment for locally recurrent RCCs (clear-cell, papillary,  and chromophobe) that have already been treated with primary cryoablation.F

  • Latest evidence recognises cryoablation as an effective and safe therapeutic option for the treatment of RCC (T1 in particular), with excellent recurrence-free survival and overall survival rates (at 3 and 5 years) G, H

Non clear-cell RCC

Papillary RCC

 10% A
  • Papillary RCC is less common (~10% of cases) and has better survival rates than clear-cell RCC.A
  • Its name derives from the finger-like projections (papillae) formed by the tumour.D
  • It usually occurs in men >50 years old.C

Chromophobe RCC

 5% A
  • Chromophobe is a rare type of RCC (5% of cases) with low malignant activity (metastases occur in only 7% of cases) A and low mortality (10%) C
  • The cells of this cancer are clear as with clear-cell RCC, but are larger and have unique features.D
  • It usually affects adults over 50 year of age.C

Treatment options

Due to the increasing incidence of renal cell carcinoma in recent years, particular attention has been directed towards this cancer’s treatment.4. Renal cell carcinoma can be approached with different therapies, depending on the cancer’s stage (I,II,III,IV), the patient being treated and the physician’s preference. The most common treatments for RCC are 6, 7:

Local treatments

partial nephrectomy

active Surveillance

radiation Therapy

radiofrequency ablation

cryoablation

Surgery (partial nephrectomy)

Active Surveillance

Radiation Therapy

RF Ablation

Cryoablation

Systemic treatments

targeted therapy

immunotherapy

chemotherapy

Targeted Drug Therapy

Immunotherapy

Chemotherapy

Recently, cryoablation has been increasingly recognised by urologists, oncologists, and interventional radiologists as a preferred treatment for RCC. Indeed, percutaneous cryoablation is now endorsed by the European Association of Urology (EAU) as a highly effective technique in terms of success rates (> 95%)8, particularly in patients with stage 1a or 1b RCC8, 9, 10.

 

Clinical Results – Why Cryoablation?

Discover the benefits of cryoablation VS surgery for renal cell carcinoma (RCC)

«Cryoablation is a safe and precise ablation procedure. Cryoablation provides urologists and IRs with more therapeutic options that the dedicated teams can offer to the patient with results comparable to surgery.»

Prof. Rosario Francesco Grasso, Policlinico Universitario Campus Bio-Medico, Italy

cryoablation effective alternative to surgery

Cryoablation has been shown to be an effective alternative to surgery for the treatment of stage I RCC.8, 9 It not only provides better overall survival rates than partial nephrectomy (72% vs 49% at 10-year)9, but also offers lower post-operative complications rate (15% vs 31%) 11, 14, 19, superior renal function preservation11 and a shorter hospital stay (1 day vs 4/5 days)12, 13, 14.

Discover the benefits of cryoablation for RCC

Discover the benefits of treating RCC under local anaesthesia conscious sedation (LACS)

“Percutaneous cryoablation under local anaesthesia conscious sedation is an efficacious and safe procedure for managing small renal masses with a low complication and treatment failure rate, similar to that seen in series using general anaesthesia.”

Patel SR, Francois S et al. 202015

Conscious Sedation VS General Anaesthesia

A key benefit of cryoablation for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma is that it can be performed under local anaesthesia conscious sedation, providing the same outcomes as when performed under general anaesthesia in terms of safety (low treatment failure rate) and efficacy14, but also reducing the costs16, the procedure time (102 mins) and length of hospital stay (average 1.08 days)17. In many centres, it is performed as a day case)18.

Discover the benefits of cryoablation of RCC under conscious sedation

Our Solutions

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Cryoablation is a minimally invasive treatment that uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy diseased tissue, including cancer cells. We offer a broad portfolio of Systems and Needles, that, thanks to the latest technology, provide an efficient treatment against a range of malignant and benign tumours.

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