Purpose: We created an evidence based postoperative surveillance protocol for patients with localized and locally advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC) based on a risk group stratification system. Materials and Methods: 559 patients undergoing surgery for localized and locally advanced RCC were stratified into low risk (LR), intermediate risk (IR) and high risk (HR) groups based on the University of California-Los Angeles Integrated Staging System (UISS). Tumor recurrences were identified and categorized according to time and location. Results: Patients with localized disease had a lower 5-year recurrence rate than patients with locally advanced (nodal) disease (27.6% vs 64%, p < 0.0001). Patients in the LR, IR, and HR groups following nephrectomy demonstrated 5-year recurrence-free rates of 90.4%, 61.8%, and 41.9%, respectively (p < 0.0001), and median times to recurrence of 28.9, 17.8 and 9.5 months, respectively (p < 0.0001). Chest and abdomen recurrences comprised of 75% and 37.5%, 77.4% and 58.1%, and 45.2% and 67.7% of recurrences in the LR, IR and HR groups, respectively. In patients with node positive disease, chest and abdomen comprised of 58.8% and 76.5% of recurrences, respectively. Patients undergoing partial nephrectomy did not demonstrate a greater rate of local or distant recurrence compared with patients undergoing radical nephrectomy. Conclusions: Significant differences in incidence and time to recurrence following surgical resection for RCC mandates unique surveillance protocols for patients in each of the UISS risk groups. LR group patients should be followed for at least 5 years, whereas IR and HR group patients require longer surveillance. HR group patients require more stringent abdominal surveillance, whereas LR group patients should emphasize the chest. Patients with nodal disease also require stringent followup. Patients undergoing partial nephrectomy for localized disease can be followed according to the same UISS risk group based protocol.
