Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer is a tumor that forms in the kidneys. Renal cell carcinoma is the most common form of kidney cancer; it develops within small tubes in the linings of the kidneys whose purpose it is to filter blood. If detected and treated early, the chances of curing it are high. Its most common types are:

Causes of kidney cancer

Factors that may increase the risk of developing kidney cancer include:

Smoking
Obesity
Exposure to certain industrial chemicals such as those used in the steel, coal or engineering industries
Advanced kidney diseases, especially those that require dialysis
Genetic predisposition - there are some rare conditions where an inherited faulty gene increases the risk of developing kidney cancer

Having one or more of these risk factors does not necessarily mean that a person will definitely develop kidney cancer.

Symptoms of kidney cancer

Blood in the urine (hematuria)
Flank pain
Palpable mass in the flank or abdomen
Unexplained weight loss
Fever
High blood pressure
High blood calcium (hypercalcemia)
Night sweats

bone pain or fracture , which may indicate spreading of the disease.

Diagnosis of kidney cancer

Complete blood count (CBC) test
Kidney function test
Calcium level test
Intravenous pyelogram (IVP) - a special X-ray examination of the kidneys, bladder, and ureters (the tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder)
Ultrasound to take images of the kidneys and surrounding tissue
Biopsy of kidney tissue
CT scan
Cystoscopy

Treatment of kidney cancer at KHCC

Surgery is performed if the cancer is confined to the kidney (radical nephrectomy) and has not spread to distant sites or, rarely, if there is limited spread to one organ that can be surgically removed together with the kidney tumor.
Targeted therapy is a type of oral treatment that targets the kidney cancer cells and is given when the disease has spread to distant sites (metastasis).
Immunotherapy treatment boosts or restores the ability of the immune system to fight cancer and is given intravenously for patients with metastatic kidney cancer who have failed to respond to targeted agents.

For patients with early-stage kidney cancer, the chances of cure are usually quite high and the aim of surgery is curative. However, treatment for patients with advanced-stage kidney cancer (metastatic disease) is not curative and is intended to slow down the progress of disease, to palliate symptoms and prolong survival.