Table 4A.

Association of patient and tumour factors with likelihood of recommending biopsy

Variables	Likely to recommend RTB Yes, n (%)	pa
Patient characteristics
Family history of RC		0.0002
Present	91 (50.0)
Absent	65 (35.7)
Risk of hereditary syndrome		<0.0001
Present	124 (68.1)
Absent	62 (34.1)
Patient’s treatment preference
Surgery	50 (27.5)
Active surveillance	129 (70.9)	<0.0001b
Thermal ablation	153 (84.1)	<0.0001c
Tumour characteristics
Tumour consistency		<0.0001
Solid	150 (82.4)
Cystic	15 (8.2)
Focality		0.0002
Unifocal	96 (52.8)
Multifocal	129 (70.9)
Tumour size		<0.0001
<2 cm	79 (43.4)
2–4 cm	123 (67.6)
CT enhancement		0.025
Low/minimal	100 (55.0)
High	80 (44.0)
Tumour location†
Exophytic	100 (55.3)
Endophytic	109 (60.2)	0.18d
Near hilum	63 (35.0)	<0.0001e

^ap<0.05 indicates that the factor influences the decision to biopsy.

^bSurgery compared to active surveillance.

^cSurgery compared to ablation.

^dExophytic compared to endophytic.

^eExophytic compared to near the hilum.

CT: computed tomography; RC: renal cancer; RTB: renal tumour biopsies.