title: Initial experience with arterial spin-labeling MR imaging to assess histology of renal masses.
abstract: It is standard practice to presume that solid renal tumors are malignant and perform a nephrectomy without a biopsy. In many clinical situations, renal biopsies lack sufficient diagnostic accuracy to justify altering management. Lanzman and colleagues propose the use of arterial spin-labeling magnetic resonance imaging to assess renal histology and grade. They used histopathologic data as the reference standard, and reported a statistically significant difference in measured tumor perfusion between papillary renal tumor, oncocytomas, and all other histologic subtypes examined. If confirmed in larger studies, this imaging modality may play a role in triaging patients with solid renal masses for surgery or renal biopsy.
authors.affiliation: Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, 8635 West Third Street, Suite 1070, Los Angeles, CA 90048, USA.
authors.forename: Venkat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Masarapu
authors.forename: Hyung L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Renal tumors; arterial spin-labeling magnetic resonance imaging; nephrectomy; renal biopsies