Kidney cancer (Renal Cancer) is a disease in which kidney cells become malignant (cancerous) and grow out of control, forming a tumor. Almost all kidney cancers first appear in the lining of tiny tubes (tubules) in the kidney. This type of kidney cancer is called renal cell carcinoma.

The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They lie in your lower abdomen on each side of your spine. Their main job is to clean your blood, remove waste products, and make urine.

These are some other Kidney Cancer Causes :

Smoking: If you smoke, your kidney cancer risk is twice that of others.

Being Male: Men have twice time chance as women to get kidney cancer.

Being Obese: Extra weight gain may cause increase your risk.

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Pain Killers Medications: If you are using certain pain killers for a long time, you have more chances to face this disease.

High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure or medication used to treat may become the source of the increased risk.

There are several factors such as genetic conditions and long-term kidney disease. Lymphoma etc. may cause Kidney Cancer.

What Are the Kidney Cancer Symptoms?

Maybe there are no symptoms at the early stage but as the tumor increases symptoms may appear. There are several signs of kidney cancer such as:  

• Blood in urine
• A loss of appetite
• Weight loss for no known reason
• A lump in your abdomen
• Pain in your side that doesn’t go away
• Extreme Tiredness
• Anemia
• Swelling in your legs or ankles

Kidney cancer that spreads to other parts of your body may cause other symptoms, such as:

• Bone pain
• Shortness of breath
• Blood in Coughing

Kidney Cancer Diagnosis Terms :

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• Urine Tests: Get a urine test to check the blood problem in the urine. You can get Kidney Function Test Profile | Renal Function Test | 5 Tests
• Blood Tests: To know the working capacity of your kidneys.
• Intravenous pyelogram (IVP): X-raying your kidneys highlighting any tumors.
• Ultrasound: It helps to tell about the tumor, it’s solid or fluid-filled.
• PET-CT scan: PET scans have virtually replaced pyelogram and ultrasound as a tool for diagnosing kidney cancer.
• MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in which strong magnets & radio waves are used to create images of soft tissues.
• Renal Arteriogram: It is used to check the blood supply to the tumor.

Kidney Cancer Treatments Process :

After finding the kidney cancer stages, your doctor can plan treatment as follow:

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Surgery:

There are three kinds of surgery that may depend on your disease.

• Radical nephrectomy: The most common surgery can be done through a small incision with a laparoscope.
• Simple nephrectomy: In that surgery, only the kidney was removed.
• Partial nephrectomy: This surgery has to be done to remove cancer along with some tissue around it.

If surgery is not enough, other treatment techniques may be used.

Chemotherapy:

This therapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells or stop them from multiplying. Less effective for kidney cancer than for other types of cancer, chemotherapy is mostly used for a certain type of kidney cancer in which there are spindle cells.

Cryotherapy: extreme cold to kill the tumor.
Radiofrequency Ablation: It uses high-energy radio waves to “cook” the tumor.