There has been a dramatic change in the way urologists approach the management of renal tumours in general and in particular for small renal masses.Nephron-sparing options were generally considered mainly in case of a solitary kidney, bilateral tumours or impaired renal function.However, there has been a recent shift from radical nephrectomy towards nephronsparing treatments even in the presence of a normal functioning contralateral kidney, and the proposed 4 cm upper limit for the size of the tumour has been challenged.