Is there a place for conservative surgery in the treatment of renal carcinoma? Since 1981, 31 patients have undergone conservative surgery for malignant renal tumours and have been followed up for at least 2 years. The techniques included enucleation or resection (wedge resection or partial nephrectomy). In 10 patients the indications for kidney-sparing surgery were absolute, while in the remainder the conservative surgical approach was a deliberate choice. The tumours varied in diameter from 1.3 to 12 cm and no metastases were detected on pre-operative screening. One patient died post-operatively from myocardial infarction. In the remaining 30 there were no local recurrences. Two patients died from skeletal metastases (1 with bilateral malignancy) and 2 underwent surgery in the post-operative period for haemorrhagic complications. The efficacy of conservative surgery in the local control of renal cancer is an argument in favour of its wider use. 