To evaluate the relationship between a positive resection margin in partial nephrectomy (PN) and local recurrence.
From January 2005 through December 2012, there were 473 PNs in 466 patients at the University of Chicago. A positive margin was defined as tumor extending to the inked specimen edge, either the parenchymal interface or the peripheral fibroadipose tissue. A local recurrence was defined as an ipsilateral tumor of identical histologic type.
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounted for 406 tumors: 243 clear cell RCCs (CRCCs), 77 papillary RCCs (PRCCs), and 47 chromophobe RCCs (CHRCCs). Sixty-one RCCs had positive margins: 43 CRCCs, six PRCCs, nine CHRCCs, and three miscellaneous cell types. Of the 61 positive margins, four CRCCs (all originally multifocal) had a local recurrence, two of which occurred in the same patient. One translocation RCC also recurred. Six cases with negative resection margins had a recurrence.
A literature review of 3,803 cases, including our study, shows positive margins in 173, of which 13 recurred; however, 39 with negative margins also recurred. A positive margin in PN seldom correlates with a local recurrence. However, protection from recurrence is not ensured by a negative margin.