OBJECTIVES:
Primary
* Determine the effect of warm ischemia during partial nephrectomy on long-term renal function in patients with solitary stage I renal cortical tumor and normal contralateral kidney.
Secondary
* Determine to what degree the contralateral kidney compensates for the damage inflicted on the operated kidney during surgery.
* Determine the 1-year disease-specific and overall survival of these patients.
OUTLINE: This is a multicenter study. Patients are randomized to 1 of 2 treatment arms.
* Arm I: Patients undergo warm ischemia followed by partial nephrectomy.
* Arm II: Patients undergo cold ischemia followed by partial nephrectomy. Blood and urine samples are collected periodically after nephrectomy to assess renal function.
Patients are followed at 1, 3, 6, 9 , and 12 months after nephrectomy.
