Objective: To examine the impact of nephrectomy delay on the survival of patients with small renal masses. Methods: Relying on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare-linked database, 6,237 patients with pT1a renal cell carcinoma who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy were identified (1988-2005). Nephrectomy delay was dichotomized as ≤3 vs. >3 months. Uni- and multivariate Cox regression analyses tested the effect of delayed nephrectomy on cancer-specific mortality (CSM). In sub-analyses, various other time from diagnosis to nephrectomy cut-offs were modelled: (a) ≤1 vs. >1 month, (b) ≤2 vs. >2 months, (c) ≤4 vs. >4 months, (d) ≤6 vs. >6 months, (e) ≤12 vs. >12 months or (f) continuously coded. Results: In univariate analyses, nephrectomy delay >3 months was associated with a higher risk of CSM (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.07; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.58-2.72; p < 0.001). However, after multivariate adjustment, a nephrectomy delay >3 months was not significantly associated with a higher risk of CSM (HR: 1.33; 95% CI: 0.96-1.86; p = 0.09). The lack of a relationship between nephrectomy delay and CSM after multivariate adjustment persisted even in various sub-analyses of other categorizations for nephrectomy delay. Conclusions: In the case of eventual nephrectomy delay among patients with small renal masses, CSM is unaffected. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.
