Renal cell carcinoma is a type of kidney cancer that begins in the lining of the tubules, or small tubes, in the kidney. According to Cancer.org, kidney cancer is among the 10 most common cancers in both men and women, though the risk is generally higher for men than women. The average age of kidney cancer diagnosis is 64, and it is very uncommon for people who are below the age of 45.
What causes renal cell carcinoma?
Though the exact cause for renal cell carcinoma is unknown, there are certain factors that might increase your risk for kidney cancer in general. There are some risk factors that you can control. For example, smoking will increase your chance for contracting kidney cancer. Misusing certain pain medicines for an extended period of time will also contribute to your risk for kidney cancer.
Additionally, there are also risk factors that are out of your control. If your family has a history of kidney cancer, you are statistically more likely to develop the condition. If you have ever had to go through dialysis treatment, this will also increase your risk. Some health conditions, such as high blood pressure, a horseshoe-shaped kidney, polycystic kidney disease, and Von Hippel-Lindau disease, can increase the odds of developing this condition.
What are the symptoms of renal cell carcinoma?
Symptoms for this type of kidney cancer include a variety of seemingly unrelated issues. If you are experiencing multiple symptoms for no other explained reason, make an appointment with your physician to discuss whether you might be at risk for developing kidney cancer. These symptoms include: abdominal pain and swelling, pain in the back or side that won’t go away, blood in your urine, loss of appetite, drastic weight loss, sudden vision problems, and anemia.
What are the treatments for renal cell carcinoma?
One of the most common recommendations for this type of kidney cancer is nephrectomy, which is a surgery that involves removing all or part of the kidney. Ideally, the tumor is small enough to be removed entirely during this surgery. However, if the tumor is too large, other treatments can be applied to shrink the tumor as much as possible beforehand.
Though chemotherapy and radiation are common treatments for cancer patients, these treatments are rarely effective against kidney cancer. There are other methods though, such as interleukin-2, an immune system medicine, or other medications that target the development of the blood vessels that feed tumors that may be more effective.
How well a treatment works depends heavily on how much the cancer has spread, or metastasized, at the time of diagnosis. According to Medline Plus, in about one-third of patients, the kidney cancer has already spread to the other kidney, the lungs, or other organs by the time of detection. The survival rate for kidney cancer is highest if the cancer is still in the early stages and is still limited to just the kidney. However, if the kidney cancer has metastasized to the other organs, especially the lymph nodes, then the survival rate is significantly lower.
