Q. What are kidney cancer symptoms, causes, and treatment?
Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.
Kidney cancer, also known as renal cell carcinoma, is one of the most common types of cancer affecting adults. It develops in the tissues of the kidneys and can spread to other areas of the body if left untreated. Signs and symptoms vary depending on how advanced the cancer is.
Common kidney cancer symptoms include: blood in urine (hematuria), persistent pain or ache near the lower back area, loss of appetite, weight loss, fatigue or feeling weak due to anemia from long term bleeding in urine, high fever for a longer period without any sign for an infection such as flu or colds that does not subside even with medication use etc., swelling or lump felt at your sides below ribs where kidneys are located.
The exact cause behind kidney cancers is still uncertain; however there are certain risk factors that can increase your possibility of developing this type of cancer including smoking habits, obesity, exposure to chemicals such as cadmium exposure in workplace environments like metal plating and battery manufacturing processes etc., family history affected by hereditary factors related to Von Hippel Lindau disease (VHL) ,hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma (HPRCC),and familial renal cellcarcinoma(FRCR).
Treatment methods may depend on how far has it spread though usually includes surgery removal combined with radiotherapy/chemotherapy which helps preventing local recurrence or metastasis into other organs. For early-stage tumors treatments may involve nephron sparing surgeries like partial nephrectomy wherein only tumor portion gets removed while preserving remaining healthy tissues . In some cases laparoscopic method is utilized for removing tiny portions through small incisions providing faster healing time compared conventional open surgery procedures . Radiation therapy uses special x ray beams targeting malignant cells effectively destroying them while leaving surrounding normal ones untouched thus reducing complications from post surgical treatments . Chemotherapies are medications employed specifically blocking growth and proliferation growth rate helping reduce bulk size prior to surgeries making it more easy approachable remotely controlled targeted therapies like tyrosine kinase inhibitors drugs help inhibiting specific pathway involved in abnormal cell production acting directly over defective protein responsible slowing down their excessive multiplication activities significantly helping save lives by shrinking tumor sizes allowing surgeons remove smaller masses easily without causing much damage normal healthy organs around them thereby increasing success rates manifold times improving overall life quality substantially..