Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) accounts for most malignant renal tumors and is considered the most lethal of all urologic cancers. For follow-up of patients with treated or untreated RCC and those with neoplasms suspected to represent RCC, radiologic imaging is the most useful component of surveillance, as most relapses and cases of disease progression are identified when patients are asymptomatic. Understanding the strengths and limitations of the various imaging modalities for the detection of disease, recurrence, or progression is important when planning follow-up regimens. This publication addresses the appropriate imaging examinations for asymptomatic patients who have been treated for RCC with radical or partial nephrectomy, or ablative therapies. It also discusses the appropriate imaging examinations for asymptomatic patients with localized biopsy-proven or suspected RCC undergoing active surveillance. The American College of Radiology Appropriateness Criteria are evidence-based guidelines for specific clinical conditions that are reviewed annually by a multidisciplinary expert panel. The guideline development and revision include an extensive analysis of current medical literature from peer reviewed journals and the application of well-established methodologies (RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation or GRADE) to rate the appropriateness of imaging and treatment procedures for specific clinical scenarios. In those instances where evidence is lacking or equivocal, expert opinion may supplement the available evidence to recommend imaging or treatment.
Journal of the American College of Radiology : JACR. 2019 Nov [Epub]
Expert Panel on Urological Imaging , Andrei S Purysko, Paul Nikolaidis, Vikram S Dogra, Dhakshinamoorthy Ganeshan, John L Gore, Rajan T Gupta, Marta E Heilbrun, Gaurav Khatri, Amar U Kishan, Andrej Lyshchik, Stephen J Savage, Andrew D Smith, Zhen J Wang, Darcy J Wolfman, Jade J Wong-You-Cheong, Don C Yoo, Mark E Lockhart
Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio. Electronic address: ., Panel Chair, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois., University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, New York., The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas., University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, American Urological Association., Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina., Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia., UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas., UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles, California., Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania., Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina, American Urological Association., University of Alabama at Birmingham Medical Center, Birmingham, Alabama., University of California San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Washington, District of Columbia., University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland., Rhode Island Hospital/The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island., Specialty Chair, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.