Bosniac 3

Sorry I don’t know much I’m afraid I think is a reference to cysts or a type of cyst on the kidney. I’ve heard of people having a cyst referred to as this but not from the uk and they were benign.  That’s all I’ve got, I have new cysts on my kidney identified in recent scan but they have said they are benign too but the rim of colour around my ablation site  not so good. 

Evening,  Quinn,  many  thanks  for  your kind   reply.  I  don't  know  what  an  ablation  site  is,  new  to  all this  and  the  terminology.    I shall  google  it. Good  news  your new  cysts   are  benign  though  and  it  seems  you  are  getting  the  treatment  that  is  best  for  you.    Thanks  again  for  your  time  and  kindness  in  replying,  Quinn.  Much  appreciated :)

Hi 

Apologies  cyroablation it’s when they kill the cancer by freezing it. the cancer was less than 4 cm so as I only had one kidney left this was offered to me. It’s a quick process, my story is in my bio not too dissimilar to many stories I’ve read here. But I’m being monitored and hope the are better than the previous monitoring I’ve had. 

Hi  Quinn -  thanks  for  the  answer  as  to  what cyroablation  is.   Seems  like  you've  been  through  a  lot,  and  how  kind  of  you  to keep  it  quiet  from  your  grandchildren  too.    Well,  the  only thing  I  can  say  about  thickening  rims   is  that  eveytime   you  have  an operation  anywhere  on your  body  it  leaves  scar  tissue  and  thickens  the  site.   I  might   be  wrong,  of  course,  but  have  had  8  ops  now,  so  got  scar  tissue/thickeing  rims  everywhere.    It  might  be  different   when  it  comes to  your  case  though.  Least  you  are  under   monitoring  now:  lets  hope  its a  bit  better  than  before.    OK,  well,  keep  in  touch  and  keep  your  spirits  up.    Take  care,  Quinn.

What I know about Bosniak is what I looked up when I was first told, on an incidental scan, that my kidney cyst (which didn't sound serious as a cyst is a cyst, right?) was a Bosniak 4. It's a scale of grading what the cyst looks like. Simple cysts are Bosniak 1 or 2. These are fluid filled and evenly shaped. They can sit there for decades and unless they start to grow or cause pain, don't really need removing. Bosniak 3 is a more complex structure and has cells that are irregular looking and is generally seen to be a more solid mass. It has a roughly 50% chance of being cancerous so they generally recommend removing it. Of course just my luck (after endometrial cancer) that mine was a Bosniak 4! The worst one! with an 85%-90% chance of being cancerous. Having been hit with the EC out of the blue and having cancer in my family, I didn't fancy my chances of my lesion falling in the 10-15% which was not cancerous, but even so I did hang on for as long as I could, which ended up being 2 years, during which time I had 6-monthly scans and it wasn't changing at all in that time. (Active Surveillance, they call it.) When I had it removed (lesion, on a partial nephrectomy) on 1st April this year, it was indeed in the unlucky 85%! So I was actually quite relieved as I wouldn't have been happy to have gone through all that just to find out that it was in the 15% non-cancerous after all!!

That's all I know. If you have a Bosniak 3, they will probably recommend that you have it removed - the lesion, I mean. If it's a large one (7cm or over) they might suggest removing the whole kidney. The Bosniak scale is a guide as to what the cells look like/whether it is an actual cyst or a (potentially) cancerous complicated solid lesion. The post-removal is then graded/staged. Bosniak, is just an indication from the scans, of the type of cyst it is - solid with abnormal cell structure, or fluid-filled.

Btw I can't see anything under your profile. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong place? Normally it comes up under someone's name when you click on the name...

Morning,  Maite.  Many  thanks  for  your  very  informative  reply:  much  appreciated.  Sorry  to  hear  of  your  story and  may I  say,  how  lucky  you  were  to  have    had  it  picked  up  on   an  unrelated  scan:  same  here!  Yes,  despite  the   active  monitoring  re  any  growth,  it  was  indeed  cancerous,  so  am  very  glad  you  finally  decided  to  have  a  partial  nephrectomy.    Hope  you're  well  on  your  way  to   recovery   by  now,  since  you  had  it  done in  April,   on  April  Fool's  Day,  no  less!!!!

I  have  no  idea  as  to  why  my  profile  is  not  showing:  seems  it  has  had   over  160  views  since  I  joined  on Monday,  but  then  I am a  technophobe   galore!  Had  a  few  replies  on  it,  under   Introductions:  it's  rather  lengthy  and a  tad  self-pitying,  before  starting  this  new  thread.    I think  the  title  just  says  'Hello  eveyone',  or something  generalistic  like  that!   I   advised  of  my  symptoms,  so that  others  may  be  warned.    MIne  were  rather  asymptonmatic  (  excuse  the  spelling!)  but  basically   not  usually  associated  with  Kidney  cancers:   loose  stools,  tummy  ache  and  then a massive pain  that  necessitated a  trip  to  A&E.   Blood  test  picked  up  abnormal  amount   of  white  blood  cells  -  now  there's  a   red  flag!  So  they  gave  me  a  MRI  and    identified  the  Bosniak, so  I have  been  lucky  too.  

I  also  had  a   hysterectomy  due  to  familial proclivity   to  EC.  Did  you  also  have    an  oopherectomy:  as  in  removal  of  your  ovaries? 

Well  it   has  just  gone  2am   ( insomniac   for  my  sins!)    but  thanks  ever  so  much,  Maite,  for  taking  the  time  to  reply.  Have  done  hours  of  research now,  and  am  just  waiting  for  my  first  referral  to  Urology.  

So  glad  you  went  ahead  with  the  PN,  especially  as  you  were  one  of  the  15 %   where  it  was  cancerous.   I  wonder  how  radiologists  are  able  to  grade  just  with  an  MRI  re  size?   I'm  sure  they  must  know  the  size  of  it  before  removal    and  pathology?????  Anyway,  lovely  to  chit  chat,  Maite.   Look  after  yourself  and  I'll  read  your  profile  tomorrow,  or   later  today,  I  should  say.  On  that  note,  bye  for  now and  thanks  again.

ps:  hope  you    get  the  above  email -  I seem  to  be  having  issues  negotiating  this  site.  Night :)