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Abstract Background To observe the diagnostic efficacy of preoperative fluorine-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) upon venous tumor thrombus (VTT) in patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC), and investigate the prognostic value of imaging parameters integrated with clinicopathological characteristics in patients with VTT after nephrectomy with tumor thrombectomy. Methods Patients with newly diagnosed RCC who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT were reviewed retrospectively. The diagnostic efficacy of 18F-FDG PET/CT in VTT was analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was carried out to identify the clinical variables and PET/CT variables (including maximum standardized uptake value (SUVmax) of primary tumor, VTT SUVmax and primary tumor size) for differentiating early VTT (Mayo 0-II) from advanced VTT (Mayo III-IV). Cox proportional hazard analyses were used to evaluate clinicopathological factors and PET/CT factors (including distant metastasis, primary tumor SUVmax, VTT SUVmax and primary tumor size) for disease-free survival (DFS) in patients with VTT after operation. Results A total of 174 eligible patients were included in this study, including 114 men (65.5%) and 60 women (34.5%), with a median age of 58 years (range, 16–81 years). The distribution of pathological tumor stage (T stage) was 56 (T1), 17 (T2), 95 (T3), and 6 cases (T4), respectively. According to WHO/ISUP grade, except for 4 cases of chromophobe cell RCC, there were 14 patients (8.0%) of grade 1, 59 patients (33.9%) of grade 2, 74 patients (42.5%) of grade 3 and 23 patients (13.2%) of grade 4. The median maximum diameter of the primary tumor on PET/CT was 7.3 cm (5.0–9.5 cm). The distal metastasis was observed in 46 patients (26.4%). Sixty-one cases (35.1%) were confirmed with VTT by pathology. The sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging were 96.7, 99.1, 98.3, 98.3, and 98.2%, in detecting VTT, respectively, and 70.0, 100.0, 94.9, 100.0, and 94.2%, in evaluating the level of VTT, respectively. Elevated VTT SUVmax (≥5.20) could significantly distinguish the early VTT group and advanced VTT group (P = 0.010). In the prognosis analysis, elevated VTT SUVmax (≥4.30) (P = 0.018, HR 3.123, 95% CI 1.212–8.044) and distant metastasis (P = 0.013, HR 3.344, 95% CI 1.293–8.649) were significantly independent predictors for DFS. Conclusion Preoperative 18F-FDG PET/CT has a high diagnostic efficacy in detecting VTT and evaluating its level in RCC patients. Those patients with elevated VTT SUVmax should be carefully monitored to detect the possibility of disease progression after operation.

Background: Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is often locally invasive and may extend from the renal vein into the inferior vena cava (IVC) as a venous tumor thrombus (VTT). Radical nephrectomy with IVC tumor thrombectomy (IVC-TT) via an open approach has been shown to carry high morbidity and mortality. Recently, robot-associated radical nephrectomy (RARN) has been developed with the aim of improving the performance and outcomes of surgery for RCC with IVC-VTT., Methods: We here present four patients who had right RCC with IVC-VTT and underwent RARN with IVC-TT in Nagasaki University Hospital. All four patients had level II IVC-TT and underwent RARN with IVC-TT using a da Vinci Xi surgical system. The procedure comprised performing the Kocher maneuver, exposing the right renal artery in the aortocaval region dorsal to the left renal vein, exposing, mobilizing, and clipping the IVC, clamping and incising the IVC, and removing the kidney with the VTT en bloc ., Results: The mean tumor size was 83.1 (range, 50.1-115.2) mm and the mean length of the VTT within the IVC 41.6 (range, 25.3-44.3) mm. The mean console time was 290 (range, 287-367) minutes and the mean blood loss was 200 (range, 175-260) mL and no patient required blood transfusion., Conclusions: Our initial experience of the procedure of RARN with IVC-TT for level II IVC-VTT is that it is safe and has acceptable perioperative outcomes and complications., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tcr.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tcr-23-862/coif). The series “Current Status of Robotic Surgery for Genitourinary Diseases in Japan” was commissioned by the editorial office without any sponsorship or funding. The authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare., (2023 Translational Cancer Research. All rights reserved.)

Background: Venous system invasion is a prominent characteristic of local progression in renal cancer and treatment-naïve renal cancer patients with venous tumor thrombus (VTT) gained short natural course and poor prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of the surgery and prognostic factors in non-metastatic renal cancer patients with VTT and to construct a nomogram prognostic model., Methods: Clinical data of 114 non-metastatic renal cancer patients with VTT who underwent surgical treatment from January 2011 to September 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. In order to find independent risk factors of prognosis, survival analysis was performed via univariate and multivariate Cox regression models and Kaplan-Meier method. Nomogram prognostic model was established to calculate patients' risk scores. Receiver operating characteristic curve and decision curve analysis were conducted to evaluate the efficacy of the prognostic model., Results: A total of 114 patients were included in this study and there were 48, 12, 25, 23, and 6 cases of grade 0-IV VTT. No perioperative death occurred. The 3-year probabilities of overall survival (OS) and 5-year probabilities of OS were 67% and 43.8%, respectively. Multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that kidney tumor diameter, preoperative lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), and preoperative neutrophils were independent risk factors. Nomogram was constructed to predict prognosis in renal cancer patients with VTT based on above indicators and Mayo VTT grading. The area under the ROC curve of 1-, 2-, 3-, and 5-year OS of the patients were 0.82, 0.67, 0.57, and 0.55 respectively., Conclusions: Surgical treatment enables renal cancer patients with VTT to gain a better prognosis. Kidney tumor diameter, preoperative LDH, and preoperative neutrophils were independent risk factors. The nomogram perfects the Mayo grading, and provides a reliable reference for evaluation of prognosis of renal cancer patients with VTT., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at https://tau.amegroups.com/article/view/10.21037/tau-23-341/coif). The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare., (2023 Translational Andrology and Urology. All rights reserved.)