Did anyone here get a biopsy before surgery?

starman
starman Member Posts: 15
edited March 2014 in Kidney Cancer #1
My doctor said that getting a biopsy of the tumor on my kidney to make sure it is malignant is risky because it could actually do more harm to me. He said the normal treatment is to just go ahead with the kidney removal.

I was wondering if people here heard similar advice and did anyone go ahead and get the biopsy anyway? What was it like? What did you learn?

Comments

  • nonnatoo
    nonnatoo Member Posts: 34
    #2
    Kidney Biopsy

    Hi, I had surgery almost two years ago for removal of a tumor on my left kidney. My surgeon also said that a biopsy was not a good idea and he would not do it. I did have laparoscopic surgery and the tumor and more than half of my left kidney were removed. I did have a few complications after the surgery but now the remaining portion of my kidney is functioning well.I will have a two year follow up in October. If you have any more questions, just ask. The people on this site are always willing to help. Good Luck and I'll keep you in my prayers. Nonnatoo
  • HSacklow
    HSacklow Member Posts: 3
    #3
    nonnatoo said:

    Kidney Biopsy

    Hi, I had surgery almost two years ago for removal of a tumor on my left kidney. My surgeon also said that a biopsy was not a good idea and he would not do it. I did have laparoscopic surgery and the tumor and more than half of my left kidney were removed. I did have a few complications after the surgery but now the remaining portion of my kidney is functioning well.I will have a two year follow up in October. If you have any more questions, just ask. The people on this site are always willing to help. Good Luck and I'll keep you in my prayers. Nonnatoo

    Kidney Biopsy
    I was told the same thing (no chance of infection or unforseen problems). My feeling was that the mass was not invited into my body, I didn't need it and certainly didn't want it growing inside me. So,5 weeks ago my entire left kidney was removed and pathology reported stage 2 cancer but the cancer was completely contained within the kidney. No further treatment other than 5 years of monitoring by my doctor and surgeon. I had hand assisted laproscopic surgery and was only in the hospital 4 days.

    I hope this helps. Good luck to you.
  • AMichael50
    AMichael50 Member Posts: 18
    #4
    HSacklow said:

    Kidney Biopsy
    I was told the same thing (no chance of infection or unforseen problems). My feeling was that the mass was not invited into my body, I didn't need it and certainly didn't want it growing inside me. So,5 weeks ago my entire left kidney was removed and pathology reported stage 2 cancer but the cancer was completely contained within the kidney. No further treatment other than 5 years of monitoring by my doctor and surgeon. I had hand assisted laproscopic surgery and was only in the hospital 4 days.

    I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

    Kidney Biopsy
    Same here. I was told "no Biopsy needed,these things are almost always malignant". So I asked "what are the chances it could be benign"? My urologist told me "low,very low".
    Sure enough after surgery to remove my left kidney, the pathology report shows Clear Cell RCC. Going tomorrow for my first CT scan 5 months after surgery.
  • prairiepatty_06
    prairiepatty_06 Member Posts: 3
    #5
    AMichael50 said:

    Kidney Biopsy
    Same here. I was told "no Biopsy needed,these things are almost always malignant". So I asked "what are the chances it could be benign"? My urologist told me "low,very low".
    Sure enough after surgery to remove my left kidney, the pathology report shows Clear Cell RCC. Going tomorrow for my first CT scan 5 months after surgery.

    Kidney Biopsy
    Me too. My PIP thought a biopsy would be done, but the surgeon said no. The Urologist gave me a 20% chance of it being an oncocytoma(benign). Of course I'll take that. My surgery is 10/14, an open partial(depending on the frozen section). Needless to say I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Best of luck to all. Patty
  • ernmar
    ernmar Member Posts: 1
    #6
    Kidney biopsy
    Hi, I had the biopsy and they found that my 4cm tumor on my left kidney was malignant so I had the cryoablation instead of the removal of the kidney, the biopsy was miserable for me because of the arthritis I have in my back and had to lay there for over 3 hrs.in the ct scan they just use a local anastesia. The cryoablation however was not bad because I was completely out.I spent 1 night in the hospital and felt good the next day so I went home. that was 10 months ago. I just had a ct scan on the 14th and they found no sign of the tumor. so the cryablation is another option.

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