Effect of routine ipsilateral adrenalectomy on cancer-specific survival and risk of adrenal insufficiency for patients with pT3/4 renal cell carcinoma.

Abstract

324 Background: The indications for the removal of the ipsilateral adrenal gland in patients with renal cell cancer (RCC) have not been well defined. Most continue to advocate ipsilateral adrenalectomy in patients with risky features such as a tumor thrombus, large, locally advanced tumors, and/or upper pole tumors. We evaluated the oncologic outcomes of concurrent adrenalectomy with either partial (PN) or radical nephrectomy (RN) in a large single institution cohort. Methods: From 1970–2006, 4,019 consecutive patients with RCC treated by RN (n=3,107) or PN (n=912) from Mayo Clinic were studied for adrenal involvement. Risk of asynchronous adrenal metastasis and cancer specific survival (CS) were also compared between those who underwent concomitant adrenalectomy (n=1,464) and those who did not (n=2,555) using multivariate cox models. Results: Median postoperative follow-up was 6 years. Synchronous ipsilateral adrenal involvement was rare even for those with large (>7cm) tumors (2.5%), upper pole (1.3%), and locally advanced (pT3/4) tumors (3.5%). The development of asynchronous adrenal metastasis occurred in 109 patients (2.7%) at a median of 3.7 years after initial surgery. The risk of developing an ipsilateral (1.4% 95% CI 0.8, 2.0) vs. contralateral (1.8% 95% CI 1.0, 2.6) asynchronous adrenal metastasis was equivalent at 10 years, in those who did not undergo adrenalectomy at initial surgery. At 10 years, 7.3% (99% CI: 4.4, 10.2) of patients with higher stage tumors (pT3/4) are predicted to develop a contralateral adrenal metastasis. On multivariate analysis, routine adrenalectomy was associated with a decreased risk of subsequent adrenal metastasis (HR 0.88: 99% CI 0.81, 0.95), but did not significantly impact CS (HR 1.15: 99% CI 0.99, 1.34). Conclusions: Asynchronous metastasis can usually be salvaged without apparent effect on CS. Ipsilateral adrenal involvement from RCC was uncommon even in large, locally advanced, and/or upper pole tumors. Routine adrenalectomy in these high risk patients may lead to an unacceptably high rate of adrenal insufficiency when a significant subset develops a contralateral adrenal metastasis. No significant financial relationships to disclose.