Small renal masses in older adults are common and usually found incidentally. Although many small renal masses are benign, most are malignant. In older patients, the small renal mass poses a challenge because the treatment paradigm has to strike the balance between competing comorbidities and a lethal cancer.
Partial nephrectomy, mainly via robot-assisted technique, has gained favor over radical nephrectomy as the intervention of choice. Cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation are also viable treatment options and have a role to play in patients who desire treatment but either are not suitable surgical candidates or prefer not to have a surgical intervention.
Clinics in geriatric medicine. 2015 Aug 28 [Epub]
Moben Mirza
Division of Urologic Oncology, Department of Urology, University of Kansas, 3901 Rainbow Boulevard, MS 3016, Kansas City, KS 66160, USA.