Artificial intelligence for renal cancer: From imaging to histology and beyond

Artificial intelligence (AI) has made considerable progress within the last decade and is the subject of contemporary literature. This trend is driven by improved computational abilities and increasing amounts of complex data that allow for new approaches in analysis and interpretation. Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has a rising incidence since most tumors are now detected at an earlier stage due to improved imaging. This creates considerable challenges as approximately 10%–17% of kidney tumors are designated as benign in histopathological evaluation; however, certain co-morbid populations (the obese and elderly) have an increased peri-interventional risk. AI offers an alternative solution by helping to optimize precision and guidance for diagnostic and therapeutic decisions. The narrative review introduced basic principles and provide a comprehensive overview of current AI techniques for RCC. Currently, AI applications can be found in any aspect of RCC management including diagnostics, perioperative care, pathology, and follow-up. Most commonly applied models include neural networks, random forest, support vector machines, and regression. However, for implementation in daily practice, health care providers need to develop a basic understanding and establish interdisciplinary collaborations in order to standardize datasets, define meaningful endpoints, and unify interpretation.