Kidney cancer is twice as common in men as in women. Roughly 27,000 Americans are diagnosed with this illness each year, with an associated 11,000 deaths yearly. Average age of patients with Kidney cancer is 50-60 years. It is most common in persons having a Northern European background.
CAUSES OF KIDNEY CANCER
Cigarette smoking, obesity and kidney dialysis have been associated with an increased risk of developing this illness. Also, a few genetic illnesses,
e.g., Von Hippel-Lindau disease.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS
Patients do not exhibit any signs at very early stages. Blood in the urine is the early worrisome sign. Other signs of this illness could be anemia, fever, weakness, fatigue, weight loss.
Establishing Diagnosis
When the diagnosis is suspected, patients must be examined carefully by a qualified physician. A chest x-ray, a CT scan of abdomen, and a study of a urine sample should be the very first steps in making the diagnosis. If a tumor mass is seen on CT scan, the next step would be a Fine Needle Aspiration of the tumor, or an attempt to operate and surgically remove the cancer.
Staging Work-Up
Once a diagnosis of the kidney cancer is established, A thorough examination of the patient is necessary to disclose crucial information. A CT scan of chest and abdomen and a bone scan should be performed to determine the extent of the spread.
Patterns of spread
Kidney cancer may either spread locally and involve nearby tissues (such as spread to the space outside the kidneys) or travel to distant sites (such as local lymph glands or liver, bones, brain or the opposite). Another area where cancer can spread is the area near the spinal cord and vertebrae.
TREATMENT
Surgery is the only treatment that can cure this disease in its earlier stages, when the disease is confined to a an area within the kidney. Without surgery, a cure is not feasible. In such cases, Immunotherapy should be considered, as well as radiation therapy, if the cancer has spread to the bones. The most effective Immunotherapy drugs used to treat this condition are Interferon, Interleukin 2.
