Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common of the kidney cancers occurring in adults.
Renal cell carcinoma originates in small tubes in kidneys called tubules.These Tubules help in filtering the blood,excreting the wastes and toxins and also helps in making urine.
Kidney cancer is a fast growing cancer and may spread to lungs and other surrounding organs if not treated in time.
What are risk factors for Kidney cancer?
Like other cancers in humans,the exact cause for kidney cancer
can not be pinpointed to a single factor. But the known factors for kidney cancers can be:
- Genetic or hereditary ( A family history of having the disease)
- Smoking tobacco
- Hemodialysis
- Hypertension
- Obesity
- Misuse and overuse of over the counter pain medicines (NSIADS)
- Polycystic kidney disease
- Von Hippel-Lindau disease
Symptoms of Kidney cancer:
Like many other cancers,kidney cancer patients does not show or experience any symptoms in early stages but as the cancer progresses patients may experience following symptoms:
- Feeling of a lump in the abdomen.
- Hematuria ( blood in urine)
- Unexplained weight loss.'
- Loss of appetite
- A persistent fatigue or malaise
- Excessive hair growth in women ( Hirsutism)
- Persistence pain in the side.
- Vision problems.
Diagnosing kidney cancer:
- Family and medical history
- Physical examination for finding out a lump or enlarged lymph nodes in abdominal region and varicoceles in male patients.
- CBC ( complete blood count)
- CT scans
- Ultrasounds (lower abdomen and KUB region)
- Urine examination
- Biopsy
Other tests for staging of kidney cancer ,if a person is found to have kidney cancer.
- PET CT
- Bone scan
- Chest X Ray.
Treatments for Kidney cancer:
- Surgery ( Nephrectomy if the disease is localised)
- Radiation therapy ( Although Radiation therapy have limited effect on RCC)
- Chemotherapy
- Immunotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- Supportive care
