Renal cancers account for roughly 4% of cancer diagnoses each year making it the 8th most commonly identified cancer, and is responsible for 2.3% of annual cancer mortalities worldwide. Kidney cancer generally affects older patients, being diagnosed most commonly in patients aged over 60 with a low incidence in those under 50. When spotted early, renal cancers can be cured or treated effectively with a 5-year survival rate of over 75%; however patient prognosis significantly worsens when the cancer metastasizes beyond the kidneys. The primary method for treating localized renal cancers for optimal patient outcomes is surgical intervention via a nephron-sparing approach with partial nephrectomy to preserve kidney tissues, or removal of the entire kidney (radical nephrectomy). The size, location, and spread of the cancer are the biggest determining factors when clinicians decide the optimal course of action.
When considering surgical interventions in cancers of any organ, the impact on the organ’s functionality is at the heart of a clinician’s considerations – with the same story applying to renal cancers. The impact on patient quality of life as a result of renal resection or nephrectomy must be kept in mind, as well as how this may be handled postoperatively and throughout the rest of the patient’s life. What must also be considered is the potential patient complications that can arise during surgical procedures, both locally and systemically. The type of surgical intervention decided upon can have notable implications, for instance the decision to opt for open surgery may carry greater risks like contracting hospital acquired infections when compared to key-hole (i.e. minimally-invasive, laparoscopic) surgeries. Newly emerging surgical interventions and refinements to existing procedures have brought about opportunities for clinicians to bolster their arsenal when treating cancers of the kidney.
Some of these surgical methods are still in their infancy, so further research is necessary to explore the opportunities these methods present to clinicians in terms of benefits and potential risks to patients. A current frontier being explored in all areas of surgical cancer care is the involvement of robotics in surgeries, which has shown positive results in many regards, but the potential impact of robotics in surgery is yet to be fully understood and requires further research. Procedures such as tumor enucleation and sutureless partial nephrectomies are becoming more common in practise, and have shown positive post operative outcomes for patients, and further research will see these procedures become more refined and subsequently more widely used by surgeons.
We welcome Original Research, leading-edge Reviews and Clinical Trials related, but not limited, to the following aspects:
- The introduction of robotics into surgical interventions in renal cancers and the opportunities this presents
- The potential benefit presented by minimally invasive, and sutureless surgical interventions in renal cancer patients
- Presurgical, intrasurgical, and postsurgical considerations and interventions which will improve patient outcomes after surgery and improve healing rates
- Novel surgical methods being trialed in renal cancer patients
- Refinements to existing surgical interventions leading to improved patient outcomes
Important Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
Renal cancers account for roughly 4% of cancer diagnoses each year making it the 8th most commonly identified cancer, and is responsible for 2.3% of annual cancer mortalities worldwide. Kidney cancer generally affects older patients, being diagnosed most commonly in patients aged over 60 with a low incidence in those under 50. When spotted early, renal cancers can be cured or treated effectively with a 5-year survival rate of over 75%; however patient prognosis significantly worsens when the cancer metastasizes beyond the kidneys. The primary method for treating localized renal cancers for optimal patient outcomes is surgical intervention via a nephron-sparing approach with partial nephrectomy to preserve kidney tissues, or removal of the entire kidney (radical nephrectomy). The size, location, and spread of the cancer are the biggest determining factors when clinicians decide the optimal course of action.
When considering surgical interventions in cancers of any organ, the impact on the organ’s functionality is at the heart of a clinician’s considerations – with the same story applying to renal cancers. The impact on patient quality of life as a result of renal resection or nephrectomy must be kept in mind, as well as how this may be handled postoperatively and throughout the rest of the patient’s life. What must also be considered is the potential patient complications that can arise during surgical procedures, both locally and systemically. The type of surgical intervention decided upon can have notable implications, for instance the decision to opt for open surgery may carry greater risks like contracting hospital acquired infections when compared to key-hole (i.e. minimally-invasive, laparoscopic) surgeries. Newly emerging surgical interventions and refinements to existing procedures have brought about opportunities for clinicians to bolster their arsenal when treating cancers of the kidney.
Some of these surgical methods are still in their infancy, so further research is necessary to explore the opportunities these methods present to clinicians in terms of benefits and potential risks to patients. A current frontier being explored in all areas of surgical cancer care is the involvement of robotics in surgeries, which has shown positive results in many regards, but the potential impact of robotics in surgery is yet to be fully understood and requires further research. Procedures such as tumor enucleation and sutureless partial nephrectomies are becoming more common in practise, and have shown positive post operative outcomes for patients, and further research will see these procedures become more refined and subsequently more widely used by surgeons.
We welcome Original Research, leading-edge Reviews and Clinical Trials related, but not limited, to the following aspects:
- The introduction of robotics into surgical interventions in renal cancers and the opportunities this presents
- The potential benefit presented by minimally invasive, and sutureless surgical interventions in renal cancer patients
- Presurgical, intrasurgical, and postsurgical considerations and interventions which will improve patient outcomes after surgery and improve healing rates
- Novel surgical methods being trialed in renal cancer patients
- Refinements to existing surgical interventions leading to improved patient outcomes
Important Note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics, computational analysis, or predictions of public databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) will not be accepted in any of the sections of Frontiers in Oncology.
