Conservative treatment of renal cancer using HIFU. Procedure, indications, and results

This article reviews the mechanisms of action of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), as well as both experimental and clinical work related to renal tumor treatment. While most currently available experience in urological tumors with HIFU has been obtained with prostate cancer, an increasing number of studies support the efficacy and safety of this procedure for renal tumor destruction. HIFU completes, with cryotherapy and radiofrequency, the spectrum of minimally invasive surgery in renal cancer, intended to decrease surgical morbidity while achieving similar oncological control rates. It is still early to recommend this procedure for daily clinical practice because, while its safety and few side effects are known, many ongoing studies intended to confirm its mid- and long-term oncological efficacy should be completed.