What is a renal mass?

A renal mass is a tumor or bulge seen in a kidney on an imaging study such as a renal ultrasound, CT, or MRI. An important characteristic to determine is does the mass enhance with intravenous contrast administration. This helps delineate potential benign renal lesions from the more concerning lesions that might be a renal cell cancer. A renal mass that enhances has an 80-90% probability of being a renal cell cancer. It is important to bring a CD of your images to your appointment or ensure your urologist has computer access to the images so that he/she can determine not only if the lesion enhances but the size and location of the mass. This information will allow the urologist to determine what treatment option is best. Most renal masses in a healthy patient are treated with surgical removal. This usually can be done through small laparoscopic incisions with robotic assistance. Also, depending on the tumor size and location your urologist can usually just remove the mass and not the whole kidney.