Press release
15 October 2025
A leading consultant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital has thanked Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust for bringing another ‘first’ not just to Cambridge but to the UK too – helping to pioneer an ultra-fast way of diagnosing kidney cancer and cutting waiting times between when they were first referred and a decision being made about their treatment, by a month.
In an exciting new development, supporters of Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT), the official charity for Addenbrooke’s Hospital, helped fund a new piece of equipment known as a confocal microscope, which provides high resolution images of tissue samples, meaning that for the first time ever in the UK, patients with suspected kidney cancer can have a biopsy, receive a diagnosis and discuss treatment options – all on the same day.
A team of urologists, radiologists, pathologists and specialist nurses at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH), which governs Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, are using the microscope to diagnose biopsy samples in the clinic within minutes – reducing anxiety, cutting the number of hospital visits and allowing patients to begin treatment sooner.
A biopsy is often needed to determine if a lump or mass on the kidney is malignant. However, standard pathology analysis takes time to process, leaving patients potentially waiting weeks for cancer to be confirmed or ruled out, but with this new pioneering method, patients receive a diagnosis and discuss treatment options on the same day.
The £250,000 confocal microscope, which was funded by Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (ACT) and the University of Cambridge, looks much like an office printer or scanner. More often used in dermatology, it provides high resolution images of tissue samples so once a sample is stained and scanned by the confocal microscope, pathologists at the kidney clinic can make an immediate diagnosis.
Professor Grant Stewart, consultant urologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital and Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Cambridge said: “For the first time in the UK, we are using a confocal microscope in this innovative way to benefit patients. Offering same day diagnosis helps reduce anxiety, cuts down on hospital appointments and means patients can have that all-important discussion with their doctor about treatment options significantly sooner.”
In research published today in European Urology Oncology, cancer waiting times for patients at the one-stop kidney Clinic, or CkOSMIC – the Cambridge kidney One-Stop Mass Investigation Clinic as it is known – were more than halved; cutting average waiting times by a month.
Patients on the typical multi-appointment pathway waited 55 days between first being referred and a decision being made about treatment, while patients at the one-stop kidney clinic waited just 25 days.
The majority of funding provided by ACT came from money left to the charity in supporters’ wills.
ACT is the official charity for Addenbrooke’s and funds cutting-edge equipment, specialist staff, extra comforts and vital research above and beyond what the NHS is able to provide. Now in its 30th year, the charity’s supporters have donated more than £150 million towards supporting innovation in patient care.
Thanking ACT supporters for their help funding this groundbreaking new approach, Professor Stewart said: “For Addenbrooke’s Hospital to be able to take the lead on this as the first hospital in the UK to have this cutting-edge microscope is monumental and down to the kind donations of everyone who has supported our wonderful hospital charity, Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust. What patients at the hospital may not realise is that, without the support of ACT and everyone who donates to our amazing charity, we simply would not have the funds to buy innovative equipment or fund vital research here at Addenbrooke’s – and that is where we really excel, by bringing ‘firsts’ to Cambridge that save lives.”
“By donating to ACT, supporters look set to change the future practice of kidney cancer diagnosis with The Cambridge Kidney One Stop Mass Investigation Clinic (CKOSMIC) project– not just here, but across the UK too.”
“To know that the majority of the funding from ACT in this instance comes from money left to the charity in people’s wills is incredibly humbling and as a consultant it is incredibly satisfying to be able to share with the families of these kind donors just what a difference their money has made, and will continue to make in months and years to come.”
Shelly Thake, Chief Executive at ACT, said: “I hope everyone reading this story and who has kindly donated to Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust feels justly proud of the extraordinary impact this project is having, because this life saving project has been made possible because of them. This incredible piece of equipment, and the clinic that Grant has set up, is the perfect example of why ACT is here, to work with amazing clinicians and make possible their ideas that change and save lives. This project gives us a glimpse of what will be possible when the new Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital is built – brilliant clinicians and pioneering research delivering early diagnoses and personalised treatment to change the story of cancer.”
Claire Billing, Director of Fundraising at ACT, said: “The confocal microscope that has made this clinic possible has been paid for through gifts in wills – thousands of lives will be saved, and families touched, because these kind-hearted supporters took the decision to remember Addenbrooke’s in their wills, and wanted to make this wonderful hospital even better for future patients. This makes me proud beyond words. We take great pride in sharing with our supporters the real difference their support makes, and I hope everyone reading this who has thought about leaving a gift in their will feels inspired by the impact their future gift could make.”
Researchers compared the confocal microscope results with standard pathology tests and found the diagnoses made using the confocal microscope were both accurate and reliable. There was a 91.7% match between the diagnoses made using the confocal microscope and final pathology. In the other 8.3% of cases, the diagnoses agreed but the cancer subtype was uncertain.
Crucially, out of 48 patients evaluated in the study, none of the treatment plans made on the day at the one-stop clinic needed to be changed after their formal biopsy pathology analysis was completed.
While the confocal microscope is not intended to replace standard pathology tests – as they provide additional details like the cancer grade – the accuracy of the diagnoses made using the confocal microscope means clinicians can confidently discuss results and treatment options with patients much earlier.
Another advantage of the clinic is pathologists can instantly assess if a biopsy has been successful, if there is enough tissue to make a diagnosis, or if a second one is required. Four patients in the study were identified as needing a repeat biopsy which took place on the same day, without needing to wait and return to hospital at a later date for another appointment.
There was positive feedback from patients in the study, with 96% surveyed saying they had enough time to ask questions and consider treatment options on the day. Clinicians also supported offering a same-day diagnosis and would like to see it used more widely with 100% of urologists and pathologists agreeing the approach is suitable for initial diagnosis and treatment planning.
CkOSMIC sees two patients in each clinic, twice a week – seeing 4 patients a week and around 150 patients a year.
Prof Stewart, who is national lead for the Getting It Right First Time ideal pathway for kidney cancer and clinical director of the National Kidney Cancer Audit, helped develop new kidney cancer guidelines for NICE which recommend that more patients with suspected cancer should have a biopsy to confirm their diagnosis sooner, to treat their disease more effectively.
Prof Stewart hopes the one-stop kidney clinic approach could become standard care for renal tumour biopsies. There is also the potential for the approach to be applied to other cancers in the future.
The kidney clinic was influenced by work underway on service improvement and transformation as part of the development plans for Cambridge Cancer Research Hospital. The planned hospital will bring together clinical excellence and world-leading research under one roof, accelerating new innovations to help detect cancer earlier, meaning better outcomes for patients.
Click here to contribute towards future funding of cutting-edge equipment and groundbreaking research at Addenbrooke’s.
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CASE STUDY
Ken Pottle, 63, visited the one-stop clinic in March after a scan for an unrelated condition showed a lump on his kidney. Following a biopsy and diagnosis of cancer, the semi-retired civil servant from Bury St Edmunds opted for thermal ablation, a treatment that uses heat to destroy tumours. Following treatment in April, he was given the all-clear a couple of weeks ago. Mr Pottle says he would not hesitate to recommend the kidney clinic.
Mr Pottle said: “I’m a very pragmatic person, so knowing I had a treatment plan in place helped me process my cancer diagnosis. Waiting to find out if you have cancer can be incredibly worrying. When I heard about the one-stop kidney clinic, I thought “wow, what a fantastic idea.” The fact that I could have a biopsy, receive a diagnosis and talk through treatment options with my doctor there and then, all on the same day, made such a difference.
Mr Pottle, who has five children and two grandchildren added: “Five months on from my treatment, I’ve now been given the all-clear. I’m back at work and enjoying life, spending time with my children and grandchildren, and getting back on my motorbike. The whole process has been brilliant.”
Photos: Copyright Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (CUH)
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