In December 2024, a paper by Vivian Tan et al. was published in European Urology Oncology:

“Long-term Renal Function Outcomes After Stereotactic Ablative Body Radiotherapy for Primary Renal Cell Carcinoma Including Patients with a Solitary Kidney: A Report from the International Radiosurgery Oncology Consortium of the Kidney”

Authors: Vivian Tan, Rohann Correa, Andrew Warner, Alexander Louiea, Shankar Siva et al.

Long-term renal function after SABR for primary RCC, including solitary kidney patients by Vivian Tan et al.

This study examined 190 patients (56 with a solitary kidney) who underwent SABR and were followed for a median of 5.0 years. At 5 years post-treatment, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decreased similarly for patients with solitary and bilateral kidneys, with comparable dialysis rates of approximately 3.6-3.7%.

Key predictive factors for renal function decline included tumor size and baseline eGFR. The research concluded that SABR represents a promising noninvasive, nephron-sparing treatment option for patients with localized renal cell carcinoma, particularly for those who may not be ideal surgical candidates.

Pre-treatment characteristics showed minimal differences between solitary and bilateral kidney patients:

Pre-SABR eGFR: 61.1 ml/min (solitary kidney) vs 58.0 ml/min (bilateral kidneys)
Median tumor size: 3.65 cm (solitary kidney) vs 4.00 cm (bilateral kidneys)

Additional meta-analyses supporting these findings revealed:

Local control rates of 97.2%
Well-tolerated treatment
Overall low toxicity rate of 1.5% for grade 3-4 complications.

More posts featuring European Urology Oncology.