Renal Cell Carcinoma: The Evolving Role of Imaging in the 21st Century.

Kidney lesions are commonly an incidental finding on cross sectional studies carried out for a variety of reasons. The detection of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has increased accordingly. There are a variety of different contrast-enhanced CT imaging protocols that have been developed to help diagnose and stage RCC. More recently, renal MRI and contrast-enhanced ultrasound have also been used as problem-solving tools. This paper describes the epidemiology of RCC and the role of imaging in diagnosis and follow-up.