Renal tumors are detected incidentally in up to 50% of cases owing to frequent modern imaging due to other indications. Czech Republic has the highest incidence of renal cancer in the world.
For tumors up to 4 cm (cT1a) guidelines recommend nephron sparing surgery as standard option, unless there are contraindications. For tumors of 4-7 cm in size (cT1b) nephron sparing surgery is optional, provided it is technically feasible and there will be sufficient amount of renal parenchyma left.
Long-term oncologic results of partial nephrectomy are comparable to radical nephrectomy provided indications are met and surgery is carried out correctly. As an alternative to partial nephrectomy in patients with multiple of comorbidities or those elderly ones there are thermal ablation methods, such as cryoblation or radiofrequency ablation.
Short- and mid-term cancer-specific survival is comparable to partial nephrectomy, however with lower overall survival.