Kidney Cancer: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that develops in the kidneys. Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs that are around the size of your fist. Behind your abdominal organs, one kidney is on each side of your spine.

The most common type of kidney cancer in adults is renal cell carcinoma. The number of rare kidney malignancies may be higher than typical. Children are more likely than adults to develop Wilms tumour, a kind of kidney cancer.

Kidney cancer seems to be becoming more common. The growing acceptance of imaging methods like computerised tomography (CT) scans may be one cause for this. These examinations could unintentionally find more kidney tumours than expected. When the tumour is small and contained, early kidney cancer detection is common.

Causes Of Kidney Cancer

Most kidney cancers have an unknown aetiology.

Doctors are aware that some kidney cells go through DNA changes (mutations) that cause kidney cancer to manifest. A cell's DNA contains the instructions that control how it behaves. The modifications tell cells to multiply and develop swiftly. The abnormal cells build up and become a tumour that can spread outside of the kidney. Some cells have the capacity to detach and disperse (metastasize) to various bodily parts.

Symptoms Of Kidney Cancer

In its early stages, kidney cancer typically shows no signs or symptoms. Signs and symptoms like:

• Blood in your urine, which may seem pink, red, or cola-coloured
• Persistent back or side pain
• Lack of appetite
• Unexpected weight reduction
• Tiredness
• Fever

Risk Factors Of Kidney Cancer

The following are risk factors for kidney cancer:

• An older age. Your risk of kidney cancer increases with age.
• Smoking. Kidney cancer is more common among smokers than non-smokers. The risk decreases after giving up.
• Obesity. Those who are obese have a higher chance of kidney cancer than those who are deemed to be of a healthy weight.
• Hypertension, or high blood pressure. Kidney cancer risk is heightened by high blood pressure.
• Treatment for renal disease. A higher risk of kidney cancer exists in those who undergo long-term dialysis to treat chronic renal failure.
• Certain hereditary conditions. A person's risk of having kidney cancer may be increased if they have specific genetic syndromes such von Hippel-Lindau disease, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, tuberous sclerosis complex, hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma, or familial renal cancer.
• Family history of kidney cancer. Your risk rises if any members of your close family have experienced kidney cancer.

Diagnosis Of Kidney Cancer

Among the examinations and techniques used to identify kidney cancer are:

• Urine and blood testing. Your doctor may learn more about the cause of your symptoms and signs from tests on your blood and urine.
• Imaging tests. Your doctor can see a kidney tumour or other problem thanks to imaging scans. X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, and ultrasounds are a few examples of imaging examinations.
• Removing a kidney tissue sample for a biopsy. Your doctor may occasionally advise a technique called a biopsy to take a small sample of cells from a questionable region of your kidney. The sample is examined in a lab for indications of malignancy. Not always is this technique required.

Staging of kidney cancer

Finding out the extent (stage) of the cancer is the next step once your doctor finds a kidney lesion that may be kidney cancer. Additional CT scans or other imaging tests that your doctor deems necessary may be used as staging tests for kidney cancer.

Roman numbers from I to IV are used to denote the stages of kidney cancer, with the lowest stages denoting kidney-confined malignancy. By stage IV, the cancer is regarded as advanced and may have progressed to the lymph nodes or to other parts of the body.

Treatment Of Kidney Cancer

Surgery is typically the first step in the treatment of kidney cancer. This can be the sole course of action for kidney-confined malignancies. Additional therapies might be advised if the malignancy has gone beyond the kidney.

You can talk about your options for treating kidney cancer with your medical team. The optimal course of action for you may depend on a variety of elements, including your general health, the type of kidney cancer you have, whether the cancer has spread, and your treatment preferences.

Surgery is the first line of treatment for most kidney malignancies. If possible, normal kidney function will be preserved while the malignancy is surgically removed. Surgery is used to treat kidney cancer in the following ways:

• A kidneyectomy, or the removal of the damaged renal. A complete (radical) nephrectomy is the removal of the entire kidney along with a border of healthy tissue and, on occasion, additional surrounding tissues like the lymph nodes, adrenal gland, or other organs.
• Open nephrectomy, also known as a laparoscopic or robotic-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy, is a procedure in which the surgeon makes a single incision in the side or belly to remove the kidney. Laparoscopic nephrectomy, on the other hand, requires multiple small incisions in the abdomen.
• Partial nephrectomy, the removal of the kidney tumour. The procedure is also known as kidney-sparing surgery or nephron-sparing surgery since the surgeon only removes the malignancy and a narrow margin of good tissue around it rather than the entire kidney. It can be carried out openly, laparoscopically, or with robotic help.

If you have only one kidney, kidney-sparing surgery may be a possibility for you. It is a popular treatment for minor kidney malignancies. To retain kidney function and lower the risk of later consequences including renal disease and the requirement for dialysis, kidney-sparing surgery is typically favoured over a total nephrectomy whenever it is feasible.

The kind of surgery your doctor advises will depend on your cancer, its stage, and your general health.

Non-surgical procedures

Nonsurgical methods, such as heat and ice, can occasionally eradicate small kidney malignancies. These methods could be used in some situations, such as when a patient has additional medical problems that make surgery risky.

Alternatives include

• Cryoablation is a cancer cell-freezing procedure. Using ultrasound or another type of imaging guidance, a unique hollow needle is introduced through your skin and into the kidney tumour during cryoablation. Through the use of cold gas in the needle, the cancer cells are frozen.
• Radiation-frequency ablation is a method to heat cancer cells. Under ultrasound or other imaging guidance, a special probe is introduced through your skin and into the kidney tumour during radiofrequency ablation. Through the needle, an electrical current is passed into the cancer cells, causing them to heat up or burn.

Treatments for Kidney Cancer that is Advanced and Recurrent

If kidney cancer spreads to other parts of the body or returns after therapy, it might not be treatable. Treatments might keep the cancer under control and keep you comfortable. Treatments in these circumstances could consist of:

• Surgical procedure to remove as much kidney cancer as is possible. Surgeons may attempt to remove the maximum amount of cancer if the malignancy cannot be entirely eliminated during an operation. Cancer that has spread to an additional bodily part may also be removed through surgery.
• Targeted treatment. Therapeutic approaches that target specific flaws in cancer cells are called targeted therapies. By blocking these abnormalities, targeted drug therapies are able to destroy cancer cells. Your doctor may suggest analysing your cancer cells to see which targeted treatments are most likely to be successful.
• Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy, which combats cancer, makes use of your immune system. Because cancer cells create proteins that assist them conceal themselves from immune system cells, your body's disease-fighting immune system may not attack your cancer. Immunotherapy works by obstructing that action.
• Therapy with radiation. To eradicate cancer cells, radiation therapy employs intense energy beams from X-ray and proton sources. When kidney cancer has gone to the brain or bones, radiation therapy may be used to control or lessen the symptoms.
• Clinical trials. The newest advancements in kidney cancer treatment can be tried out in clinical trials, which are research studies. In some clinical studies, the efficacy and safety of proposed treatments are evaluated. New methods of illness detection or prevention are being explored in other clinical studies. Talk to your doctor about the advantages and disadvantages if you're considering participating in a clinical study.

Prevention Of Kidney Cancer

By altering your lifestyle, you may reduce your chance of kidney cancer. To lower your risk, try the following:

• Don't smoke. Please give off smoking. There are a variety of methods available for quitting, including support services, pharmaceuticals, and nicotine replacement goods. Inform your physician of your want to quit, and the two of you can discuss your choices.
• Be sure that you maintain a healthy weight. Maintaining a healthy weight is important. If you are overweight or obese, try to lower your daily calorie intake and increase your physical activity levels most days of the week. Consult your doctor for more wholesome weight-loss advice.
• Lowering high blood pressure. At your subsequent appointment, request that your doctor check your blood pressure. You can talk about ways to lower your blood pressure if it is high. Exercise, dietary modifications, and weight loss are a few examples of healthy living choices. Some patients might require the use of more medications to decrease their blood pressure. 

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