Renal Cell Carcinoma

May 14, 2012

Patients have been undergoing surgery for kidney cancer, or renal cell cancer for a long time.  New to the fight has been the utilization of robotics, for what we call nephron-sparing surgery.  What is nephron-sparing surgery? Well, why remove the whole kidney, when only part of it has a malignancy in it?  I describe it like removing the part of a cheese with the mold in it, but without tossing out the entire piece of cheese.  To understand the point more fully, the more kidney you can preserve, the better.  Kidneys perform the significant task of filtering the blood of unwanted products and toxins.  As we age, diabetes, weight, hypertension, and other factors contribute to worsening renal function.  Good news is that more renal tumors are found earlier, thanks to the proliferation of imaging for kidney stones, car accidents, gall bladder and appendix surgery, etc.  Because the tumors are often found easier, we can apply robotic surgery to perform the entire procedure through tiny incisions, and remove only the part of the kidney with the cancer, and leave the remainder of the kidney unharmed, and functioning for years to come.

For more details, including a surgical video,

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Please call to schedule an appointment for preventative/follow-up care: 512-694-8888