Biopsy

had a biopsy in June and was told i had renal cell carcinoma.

I had surgery to remove the tumor and a cyst attached on oct 11th. when we received the pathology we were told that there was not cancer.
We were of course very relieved and thankful but are still wondering about this conflict of results. Anyone else had this experience?

Skip

Biopsies are ussually not done before surgery for suspected renal cell carcinoma because most tumors found by imaging to be solid are cancerous, and a needle biopsy can sometimes cause the cancer to spread. I would want another pathology opinion, which can be done by sending the slides to another pathologist of your choice. The pathologists used by the NIH are experts in renal cell carcinoma.

Thanks for your reply . what does NIH stand for/ I have requested my records from Long Island Jewish Medical and I have my records from Albany med. Albany Med reported I have rcc while after having part of my kidney out at LIJ they reported it is not cancer. doing my best to search this out.

thanks, skip

NIH stands for the USA's National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. I believe that their pathology expert is at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology. See http://www.afip.org/Departments/Genitourinary/index.html and call for more information. Typically, they ask that you arrange for slides of your tumor to be sent from the hospitals where the biopsy and surgery were done, and the pathologist there re-examines the slides.

Also, some kidney tumors can be complex, composed of benign parts and malignant parts. You should get your pathology reports and see what the specific types of tumors are that were dianosed by your local pathologists.

All cancer treatment is based on the type of cancer as determined by the pathologist. I would get another opinion on both the biopsy and surgery slides.