Kidney Cancer – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Many people with kidney cancer want to take an active part in making decisions about their medical care. They want to learn all they can about their disease and their treatment choices. However, shock and stress after the diagnosis can make it hard to think of everything they want to ask the doctor. It often helps to make a list of questions before an appointment. To help remember what the doctor says, people may take notes or ask whether they may use a tape recorder.



In adults, the most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, which begins in the cells that line the small tubes within your kidneys. Children are more likely to develop a kind of kidney cancer called Wilms' tumor. The American Cancer Society estimates that almost 51,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year. The incidence of kidney cancer seems to be increasing, though it isn't clear why. Many kidney cancers are detected during procedures for other diseases or conditions.



Causes



Your kidneys are part of the urinary system, which removes waste and excess fluid and electrolytes from your blood, controls the production of red blood cells, and regulates your blood pressure. Inside each kidney are more than a million small filtering units called nephrons. As blood circulates through your kidneys, the nephrons filter out waste products as well as unneeded minerals and water. This liquid waste - urine - flows through two narrow tubes (ureters) into your bladder, where it's stored until it's eliminated from your body through another tube, the urethra.



Symptoms



Keep in mind that these symptoms are also the signs for many other illnesses. Please see a health care professional if you are experiencing anything abnormal for further diagnosis.



Kidney cancer includes renal cell carcinoma (cancer that forms in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney that filter the blood and remove waste products) and renal pelvis carcinoma (cancer that forms in the center of the kidney where urine collects). It also includes Wilms tumor, which is a type of kidney cancer that usually develops in children under the age of 5.



Symptoms may result from metastatic renal cell cancer in the bones, lungs, or elsewhere. If the disease attacks the bones, for example, it can cause bone pain, which is deep and achy.



Treatment



To plan the best treatment, the doctor needs to know the stage (extent) of the disease. The stage is based on the size of the tumor, whether the cancer has spread and, if so, to what parts of the body. Staging may involve imaging tests such as an ultrasound or a CT scan. The doctor also may use an MRI. For this test, a powerful magnet linked to a computer makes detailed pictures of organs and blood vessels.



Biological therapy (immunotherapy) uses your body's immune system to fight cancer. Drugs in this category include interferon and interleukin-2, which are synthetic versions of chemicals made in your body. These biological therapy drugs have serious side effects, including chills, fever, nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. Biological therapy drugs are sometimes used alone, in combination or after surgery.



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