ABSTRACT
Since articles by Robson were published in 1963 and 19691,2, radical nephrectomy has been the gold standard treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In the following years, nephron-sparing surgery (NSS) was developed as a treatment in cases of imperative indications (solitary kidney, bilateral tumors, von Hippel-Lindau disease, etc.). During the past decade, because of the increasing number of incidentally discovered tumors, NSS has also been advocated in certain elective indications (for example small tumors, easily resectable, with a normal controlateral kidney). At the end of the last century, laparoscopic surgery was proposed by some authors for radical nephrectomy and even for NSS.
