Comparable Progression Risk Seen With Ablation Versus Surgery for T1a Renal Cell Carcinoma

WEDNESDAY, March 4, 2026 (HealthDay News) — For patients with stage T1a renal cell carcinoma (T1a RCC), ablation seems to be as effective as resection or nephrectomy, according to a study published online March 3 in Radiology.

Johanne Ahrenfeldt, Ph.D., from Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues conducted a nationwide-registry cohort study involving Danish adults diagnosed with T1a RCC between January 2013 and December 2021 to compare patients treated with tumor ablation, surgical resection, or nephrectomy. The study included 1,862 patients (median age, 64 years).

The researchers found that after adjustment for confounders, there was no evidence of a difference in progression risk between the ablation and resection groups. Local recurrence occurred most often following ablation (2.41 percent compared with 1.20 and 0 percent for resection and nephrectomy, respectively); with additional procedures, local recurrence was treatable. Distant metastasis occurred most often after nephrectomy, followed by resection and ablation (4.38 versus 1.90 and 1.67 percent, respectively). The shortest hospital stays were seen for ablation (median of zero days compared with two days each for resection and nephrectomy). The fewest 30-day posttreatment hospital contacts resulted from ablation versus resection and nephrectomy, suggesting fewer complications with ablation.

“Although the local recurrence rate was slightly higher in the ablation group, tumors that recur can be successfully treated with another ablation or surgery,” lead author Iben Lyskjær, Ph.D., also from Aarhus University, said in a statement. “Importantly, patients in the study who had local recurrences did not have worse overall survival.”

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