Abstract
CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVES: The European Association of Urology Guideline Group for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has prepared these guidelines to help clinicians assess the current evidence-based management of RCC and to incorporate the present recommendations into daily clinical practice. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The recommendations provided in the current updated guidelines are based on a thorough review of available RCC guidelines and review articles combined with a systematic literature search using Medline and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: A number of recent prospective randomised studies concerning RCC are now available with a high level of evidence, whereas earlier publications were based on retrospective analyses, including some larger multicentre validation studies, meta-analyses, and well-designed controlled studies. CONCLUSIONS: These guidelines contain information for the treatment of an individual patient according to a current standardised general approach. Updated recommendations concerning diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up can improve the clinical handling of patients with RCC.
