ABSTRACT

In recent years, more frequent use of imaging techniques provide that diagnosis of incidental renal tumors has increased. So that, nephron-sparing surgical procedures in patients with small size, clinical T1 tumors increased. Even though data from the literature for 5 years, the frequency of incidental renal tumors has increased over the years, symptomatic tumors to be detected more frequently than incidental renal tumors. In this review, incidental kidney tumors were analyzed in the light of data collected from 22 centers from 1987 to 2007 in Turkey.

Last 15 years, we evaluated the literature regarding renal tumors in stage at diagnosis, type of diagnosis (randomized / symptomatic), differences in treatment modality and mortality issues. In Turkey, the period of 1987-1997, 1997-2002 and -2007, we observed the significant increase in the number of patientsin which undergone to PN, that was parallel to the increase of randomized tumor diagnosis which was related with the literature.

Although nephron sparing approach more frequently using at incidental renal tumors in recent years, especially minimally invasive methods (often laparoscopic and robot-assisted laparoscopic surgery) as development of our country with the literature, and radiofrequency ablation methods cryoablation also be presented as a treatment option in selected patients. The critical messages from this review are to stress the PN applicability in T1 and T2 tumours while most localized renal tumors should be treated by nephron sparing surgery instead of radical nephrectomy whenever suitable cases, to underline the method of choice of PN in different medical centers for T1a renal tumors.