Print
Email
Listed below are some frequently asked questions about kidney cancer.
Q: What are the kidneys, and what do they do?
A: The kidneys are 2 bean-shaped organs. You have one on either side of your spine in the middle of your back. They have 3 main roles.
-
Filter waste from the blood and make urine
-
Make the hormone erythropoietin that controls the formation of red blood cells
-
Help regulate blood pressure
While most people are born with 2 kidneys, it is possible to survive with one, or none. People with no kidneys or with kidneys that do not work right survive with the help of dialysis. With dialysis, a special machine does the kidneys’ job of filtering the blood.
Q: What is kidney cancer?
A: This is cancer that starts in the kidney. The most common type of kidney cancer is called renal cell carcinoma (RCC). The term renal is derived from the Latin word for kidney. About 90% of all kidney cancers are renal cell carcinomas. The other 10% are made up of transitional cell carcinomas and Wilms’ tumors (found in children).
Q: Are there different types of renal cell carcinoma?
A: These are the four main types of renal cell carcinoma (RCC). A pathologist can identify them under a microscope based on how they look.
-
Clear cell, which is the most common type of renal cancer
-
Papillary, which is the second most common type
-
Chromophobe
-
Oncocytoma
-
Collecting duct
Most of the treatments for kidney cancer have been developed for clear cell tumors.
Q: Who gets kidney cancer?
A: About 51,000 people in the United States are told they have kidney cancer each year. Men get kidney cancer more often than women. It is the seventh most common form of cancer in men. People who smoke have almost twice the risk of getting kidney cancer as nonsmokers. Here are some other risk factors.
-
Von Hippel-Lindau disease
-
Obesity
-
Exposure to workplace chemicals such as cadmium and asbestos
However, many people with kidney cancer have no known risk factors. On the other hand, people who have one or more of known risk factors may never get the disease.
Q: What are the symptoms of kidney cancer?
A: In the early stages, kidney cancer often causes no symptoms. As the cancer grows, symptoms may develop. These are the most common symptoms in people with kidney cancer.
-
Abdominal or back pain
-
A mass or lump in the abdomen
-
Fatigue, which is a chronic, unexplained tiredness
-
Rapid weight loss without making an effort to lose weight
-
Other symptoms, such as fever with no known cause, leg or ankle swelling, high blood pressure, and pain on either side of the body with no known cause
People with renal cancer may have any combination of these symptoms. If you have any of these symptoms, see your doctor as soon as possible.
Q: How is kidney cancer diagnosed?
A: If a doctor thinks a person has kidney cancer, there are many ways to find out for sure. These are the tests a doctor may do, and they are usually done in about this order.
Medical history and physical exam. The doctor asks all about the person’s medical history. He or she also asks about the person’s family history of kidney cancer and other conditions that may be related to kidney cancer. This includes assessing any risk factors. The doctor will also do an exam.
Urinalysis. For this test, the person collects a small amount of his or her urine. Then, it is tested to see if blood is present in it. The doctor may do a special urine test called urine cytology. This test checks for cancer cells in the urine.
Blood tests. A complete set of blood tests is usually done when a doctor suspects kidney cancer. There is no specific blood test that can diagnose kidney cancer, but tests can show problems associated with kidney cancer.
Imaging tests. These are some of the tests used to take pictures of the inside of a person’s body.
Biopsy. During a biopsy, the doctor removes a small amount of a tumor. A pathologist then examines this sample under a microscope. For kidney cancer, the type of biopsy used is called fine needle aspiration (FNA). In most cases of suspected kidney cancer, no biopsy is taken. When a CT scan or an MRI suggests kidney cancer, people usually go directly to surgery. The pathologist examines the specimen removed during surgery to establish the diagnosis.
Q: How is kidney cancer treated?
A: Someone with kidney cancer may have only one these treatments. Or they may have more than one.
-
Surgery to take out the tumor from the kidney, while leaving as much of the kidney as possible. The whole kidney may be taken out, or only the part of the kidney with the tumor may be removed. Surgery is the standard of care for cancer that is confined to the kidney and has not spread.
-
Biological therapy to treat the cancer and reduce the chance that the cancer will spread to other parts of the body. This treatment uses drugs that may help stimulate the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells.
-
Radiation therapy to kill cancer cells using X-rays.
Doctors are always finding new ways to treat kidney cancer. New treatments are tested in clinical trials. Before beginning treatment, it’s a good idea to ask your doctor if there are any clinical trials to check on.
Q: Should everyone with kidney cancer get a second opinion?
A: Many people with cancer get a second opinion from another doctor before deciding on treatment. Here are some of the many reasons to get a second opinion.
-
You are not comfortable with the treatment decision.
-
You have a rare type of cancer.
-
There are different ways to treat the cancer.
-
You are not able to see a cancer expert.
Q: How can someone get a second opinion about a diagnosis of kidney cancer?
A: Here are ways to find someone to give a second opinion.
-
Ask the doctor for the name of a specialist.
-
Call the Cancer Information Service. The number is 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237). Callers can learn about centers and programs supported by the National Cancer Institute.
-
Call the Kidney Cancer Association. The number is 1-800-850-9132 or check their website at www.curekidneycancer.org .
-
Get the names of doctors from a hospital, medical school or society, or cancer advocacy group.
-
Ask people who have had kidney cancer for doctors’ names.
-
Check The ABMS Directory of Board Certified Medical Specialists. This book lists doctors by state and specialty. It can be found at most libraries. The information is also on line at www.abms.org .
Q: If I have one kidney removed, can I live normally?
A: After a surgeon takes out a kidney, the remaining kidney takes on the work of both. Most people left with only one kidney have no long-term life changes. However, they should avoid anything that could harm the kidney they have left. It is very important to talk with your doctor whenever you start taking new medications or if you have infections or other problems. If the remaining kidney is damaged, you may need dialysis. With dialysis, a special machine does the kidneys’ job of filtering the blood.
Q: What’s new in kidney cancer research?
A: Researchers are looking for ways to cure kidney cancer in these ways.
-
Genetics
-
Biological therapy
-
Other new treatment methods
Genetics is the study of genes, which are the “instructions” that make people what they are. Scientists are looking at several genes that may be related to the reason normal kidney cells change into cancerous cells. Their hope is to be able to put normal genes back into the cancerous kidney cells to reverse their change into cancer. This treatment is still very experimental.
Biological therapy includes new drugs that are being tested in clinical trials. Combining drugs with other types of treatment is also being tested.
Chemotherapy is not very effective in fighting kidney cancer. But researchers are testing new types of drugs. They believe that understanding why kidney cancer cells are so resistant to chemotherapy will provide answers that can help make new and better chemotherapy and other treatment strategies.
There are a few new ideas in the field of kidney cancer research. One is treatment that kills cancer cells by stopping the blood flow to only those cells that have become cancerous. This is called antiangiogenic therapy.
Q: What are clinical trials?
A: Clinical trials are studies of new kinds of cancer treatments. Doctors do clinical trials to learn about how well new treatments work and what their side effects are. If new treatments look promising, they are compared to the current treatment to see if they work better or have fewer side effects. People who participate in these studies may benefit from access to new treatments before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves them. Participants also help further our understanding of cancer and help future people with cancer.