Ultrasound in Renal Cancer Screening: A Review of the Literature

Kidney cancer is a prevalent cancer that is often asymptomatic at early stages and is commonly incidentally diagnosed using cross-sectional imaging. This review aims to provide a comprehensive review describing the utility of ultrasound, a low-cost, safe, and widely accessible tool, as a potential method for renal cancer screening. We conducted a comprehensive literature search using PubMed and Embase and identified 177 articles pertaining to ultrasonography screening of renal cell carcinoma. Fifteen articles met the following inclusion criteria: studies that used renal ultrasonography, studies that used abdominal ultrasound, studies that found renal cancer incidentally, and studies written in English. Key findings from these studies highlighted ultrasound as an effective tool for detecting asymptomatic renal cancers and identified a need to optimize screening guidelines to minimize costs and lower overdiagnosis. Further, they showed that a screening program can particularly benefit from including patients with known risk factors including older age, male gender, smoking history, and immunosuppression. We propose integrating kidney screening into existing abdominal ultrasound screening guidelines to potentially enhance feasibility and cost-effectiveness.