Partial nephrectomy versus thermal ablation for clinical T1 renal tumours

The incidence of renal tumours has been increasing over the last decades because of more frequent abdominal imaging, leading to higher numbers of renal tumours identified at an early stage (1). Guidelines emphasise surgery as a preferred treatment modality for patients with clinical T1N0M0 tumours, but consider thermal ablation and active surveillance as an alternative approach for T1a lesions (2,3). High-quality studies comparing partial nephrectomy (PN) and thermal ablation are sparse, and the majority of studies are limited by small numbers, short follow-up and their retrospective design.