Kidney cancer occurs most frequently in the age group of 50-70 years old, more often in men, and its frequency increases with age. Mortality from kidney cancer reaches about 2% among other diseases. Leading risk factors are tobacco smoking, exposure to industrial carcinogens, genetic factors, and kidney cysts.

Due to the widespread use of ultrasound diagnostics, in 2/3 of cases, the tumor is detected in stages 1-2, when there is a possibility of a complete cure. As a rule, in these stages, kidney cancer does not show symptoms and is detected by chance, during examination in connection with other diseases, or during a preventive examination.

Until the mid-2000s, the predominant solution to the problem was radical nephrectomy, during which the kidney was removed along with the tumor. The appearance of laparoscopic and robot-assisted technologies significantly expanded the possibilities of the surgeon. Now the main goal of the operation is to remove the tumor while preserving the kidney. In this case, the tumor is removed within healthy tissues, thereby achieving a complete recovery of the patient.

Laparoscopic nephrectomy using indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescent navigation, which is an advantage of the IMAGE1 S™ Rubina™ endoscopic complex, allows targeted blocking of blood circulation in the tumor and its removal with the preservation of the kidney in about 95% of cases. The ability to combine this technology with the advantages of the Da Vinci robotic system makes it possible to achieve pinpoint accuracy when working on the kidney vessels, especially in case of an intricate location of tumors in the central part of the kidney.

IRIMI Group urologists have extensive experience in applying this technique, in particular, in 2020, a joint training film by Professor R. Molchanov and Professor G. Janetschek (Austria) was presented on the WebSurg IRCAD platform of the University of Strasbourg. The title of the film is ‘ICG navigation in the surgical treatment of kidney cancer’.

Our IRIMI Group medical team operates on the basis of MC Medical Plaza under the guidance of Professor R.N. Molchanov, who has many years of experience in performing this surgical intervention: with an open method – since 2000, with a laparoscopic method – since 2014, and more recently with a robot-assisted method. The use of the Da Vinci robotic system and fluorescence-guided laparoscopy made it possible to turn this complex operation into a well-established, almost routine procedure with minimal risks and a high success rate.