Radiofrequency ablation of renal lesions: initial experience in a center of reference in Mexico City (INNSZ)

With the advances of technology, the incidence of renal cancer has increased, but the stage at the time of diagnosis has decreased. In selected patients nephron sparing surgery can be made but there are patients who have important comorbidities and therefore they are not candidates to surgical management. For them, there are new minimally invasive procedures that use different types of energy to perform ablation of the neoplastic tissue; one of which is radiofrequency ablation. This article reports the initial experience with this therapeutic modality in a reference center of Mexico City. Four patients with 5 renal masses of 3 cm or less, and with significant comorbidities that exclude the possibility of surgery, underwent radiofrequency ablation under fluoroscopic guidance. Five renal tumors in four patients were treated with radiofrequency ablation in a period of 18 months. No major complication during the procedure was reported, mean follow- up was of 12 months and they keep a good oncologic control. Radiofrequency ablation is a safe and reproducible therapeutic option for patients with incidental renal masses below 3 cm. We need more follow up to compare oncologic control with the gold standard, surgery.