Kidney Cancer

What is Kidney Cancer?

Kidneys have an important function in your body, they filter your blood of waste materials that your body doesn’t need, such as excess water, salt and other impurities. The filtered wastes then travel to the bladder, where they will stay until you urinate. Kidney cancer is the over-development of abnormal cells into malignant tumors in the kidneys. Although, cancer in the kidney may not be troublesome in the beginning, the best treatment of kidney cancer should begin as early as possible, so that the patient may have better chances of a complete recuperation.

Cancer can be developed in different areas of the kidney. The most common is renal cell carcinoma, or simply renal cell cancer, which grows within the kidney, either as a single mass or several tumors in one kidney. More common in men than women, although both are prone, renal cell cancer is harder to detect in its initial stages, but fortunately before the cancer has spread outside the kidney and to other body parts.

Transitional cell cancer, or renal pelvis cancer, is found in the lining of the renal pelvis and is usually treated as bladder cancer, which similarly occurs in the lining of bladder. This is a less common type of cancer. Another type occurs in children, which is called Wilm’s tumor.

Kidney Cancer Statistics

According to the American Cancer Society, the occurrence of new cases of renal cell and renal pelvis cancer in 2006 is an estimated 38,890, with males at 24,650 and females at 14,240. Deaths from kidney cancer in 2006 are estimated at 12,840, with 8,130 males and 4,710 females.

What Causes Kidney Cancer?

Medical research has yet to ascertain the causes of cancer in the kidneys, but there are determinants that may aid in its development. It has been noted that patients of kidney cancer are also heavy smokers, obese, are exposed to environmental toxins and/or radiation, and suffer from high blood pressure. Another possible cause of kidney cancer is the deterioration of the immune system through renal failure and constant dialysis procedures.

What are the Symptoms of Kidney Cancer?

The most common symptom is the presence of blood in your urine. There are other symptoms, such as a persevering back pain, particularly under the rib area, rapid weight loss, consistent fatigue and fever. If you suffer any of these symptoms, you should get a urinalysis right away for faster diagnosis and treatment. Wilms’ tumor has no symptoms, but can be detected during a child’s regular medical check up.

Kidney Cancer Treatments

Removing the mass through surgery is the most common treatment for kidney cancer, as chemotherapy doesn’t work with kidney cancer. The procedure used to involve removal of the entire kidney, but in recent years has progressed to removal of only the tumor, saving the patient from chronic kidney failure later on. Of course, if the stage of the cancer is quite drastic, the entire kidney must be removed.

Other treatments for kidney cancer include immunotherapy, cryoblation or the freezing of cancer cells, and arterial embolization, where a substance is injected into the kidney’s main incoming blood vessel to block oxygen from nourishing the tumor. Of course the best treatment for kidney cancer is prevention. Live a healthy life and get a urinalysis once you don’t feel right. That helps battle all sorts of cancers and diseases, as well.

Bookmarks
Bookmark This |