Concordance between renal tumour biopsy and robotic-assisted partial and radical nephrectomy histology: a 10-year...

We aimed to assess concordance between renal tumour biopsy (RTB) and surgical pathology from robotic-assisted partial nephrectomy (RAPN) or robotic-assisted radical nephrectomy (RARN). Patients with preoperative RTB undergoing RAPN or RARN for suspected malignancy (9 September 2013-9 September 2023) were enrolled retrospectively from three sites. Patients were excluded if the tumour had prior cryotherapy or if biopsy or nephrectomy histology were unavailable or inconclusive. The primary outcome was concordance with the presence/absence of malignancy. Secondary outcomes were concordance with tumour subtype, World Health Organisation nuclear grade (patients with RTB clear cell or papillary RCC only), false-negative rate, false-positive rate, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), and negative predictive value (NPV). In the enrolment period, 332 and 132 patients underwent RAPN and RARN, respectively. Of these, 160 received preoperative RTB, with nine patients excluded, leaving 151 eligible patients. Median age was 63 years, and 49 (32%) were female. On surgical specimens, 144 patients had malignant histology. RTB was highly concordant with presence/absence of malignancy (147/151, 97%). Concordance with tumour subtype occurred in 141 patients (93%), while concordance with nuclear grade was seen in 42/66 patients (64%, RTB grade missing in 53 patients). False-negative rate, false-positive rate, sensitivity, specificity, PPV, and NPV were 2%, 14%, 98%, 86%, 99%, and 67%, respectively. Limitations include absence of complication data and exclusion of patients biopsied without surgery. In patients undergoing RAPN or RARN, preoperative RTB has high concordance with surgical pathology, both in the presence of malignancy and RCC subtype.