Histologic evaluation of radiofrequency ablation in renal cancer

Aim To report on the histologic evaluation of renal tumors after intraoperative radiofrequency ablation (RFA) performed immediately before surgical nephrectomy. Materials and methods Ten patients with renal tumors were studied. All tumors were confirmed to be renal cell carcinoma before radio frequency ablation treatment. All specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Results Mean tumor size was 29 mm (range 14 to 48 mm). Of the 10 tumors 5 were completely devitalized with a treatment margin ranged from 1 to 20 mm. One tumor needed two treatment sessions. No complication related to radiofrequency treatment was recorded. Conclusions Our data indicate that RFA can completely destroy renal tumors. However, in our study, complete tumor cell death was obtained only in 50% of cases. More studies are needed to ensure that is technique is an effective and reproducible treatment.