ORLANDO, FL (UroToday.com) - Dr. David Wood discussed the role of renal mass biopsy. He presented a case of a 65 year old man with metastatic prostate cancer as compared to a 65 year old man with a 2.7cm exophytic solid renal mass. The likelihood of renal cancer is 72% in this setting. Yet most would biopsy the man with likely prostate cancer but not the patient with the renal mass. This is because, as some would argue, that the biopsy is not accurate. He showed data that an 18 gauge core biopsy is between 96% and 100% accurate. Tumor seeding risk is <0.01% and thus not an issue.

Pathologists can accurately establish a tumor grade and histologic type. The sensitivities of renal biopsies are 86-100% and specificity is 97-100%. Also, sufficient tissue is obtained in 98%. In the Michigan series, benign pathology was found in up to 35%. While some might argue that the biopsy pathology would not change treatment, Dr. Wood stated that up to 40% of the time it would change treatment due to the large number of benign lesions.

Presented by David Wood, Jr., MD, at the Annual Meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) - May 17 - 22, 2008. Orange County Convention Center - Orlando, Florida, USA.