Kidney cancer is a relatively common type of cancer that affects mostly men after 60 years of age, causing symptoms such as blood in the urine, constant pain in the lower back or increased blood pressure, for example.
Generally, the most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, which appears in about 90% of cases, and can be easily cured with surgery if identified early. However, if the cancer has already metastasized, treatment may be more difficult, and other treatments, such as radiotherapy, may need to be done in addition to surgery.
Main symptoms
The most common symptoms of kidney cancer include:
- Blood in the urine;
- Swelling or mass in the abdominal region;
- Constant pain in the back;
- Excessive tiredness;
- Constant weight loss;
- Constant low fever.
In addition, as the kidneys are responsible for regulating blood pressure and erythrocyte production, a sudden change in blood pressure values is also common, as well as a marked increase or decrease in the number of erythrocytes in the blood test.
If these symptoms occur, it is important to consult a general practitioner or nephrologist to see if there are any problems that may be causing the symptoms and, if so, to identify the cancer at an early stage, facilitating treatment.
How to confirm the diagnosis
To assess what is happening in the kidneys and examine the cancer hypothesis, the doctor may order various tests such as ultrasound, chest x-ray, CT scan or magnetic resonance imaging, for example.
Ultrasound is usually the first test to be ordered because it helps identify and evaluate possible masses and cysts in the kidney that may indicate cancer. The other tests can be done to confirm the diagnosis or to stage the disease.
How is the treatment done?
Treatment of this type of cancer depends on the size and development of the tumor, but the main forms of treatment include:
1. Surgery
It is done in almost all cases and helps to remove the affected part of the kidney. So when cancer is first identified, surgery may be the only form of treatment needed, as it may be able to remove all cancer cells and cure cancer.
Already in the more advanced cases of cancer, the surgery can be used together with the radiotherapy, for example, to reduce the size of the tumor and to facilitate the treatment.
2. Biological therapy
In this type of treatment are used medicines like Sunitinib, Pazopanib or Axitinib, which strengthen the immune system and facilitate the elimination of cancer cells.
However, this type of treatment is not effective in all cases and therefore, your doctor may need to make several assessments during treatment to adjust doses and even discontinue the use of these medications.
3. Embolization
This technique is usually used in more advanced cases of cancer when the person's state of health does not allow surgery, and prevents the passage of blood to the affected region of the kidney, causing it to die.
To do this, the surgeon inserts a small tube, known as catheter, into the groin artery and guides it to the kidney. Then it injects a substance that allows to close the blood vessels and prevent the passage of blood.
4. Radiation therapy
Radiation therapy is usually used in cases of metastatic cancer because it uses radiation to delay the development of cancer and prevent metastases from continuing to grow.
This type of treatment is usually used before surgery to make the tumor smaller and easier to remove, or later to eliminate the cancer cells that could not be removed with surgery.
Although it takes just a few minutes of treatment every day, radiation therapy has several side effects like excessive tiredness, diarrhea or feeling sick at all times.
Who is most at risk
Kidney cancer, in addition to being more common in men after age 60, is also more common in people with:
- BMI greater than 30 kg / m²;
- High blood pressure;
- Family history of kidney cancer;
- Genetic diseases such as Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome.
In addition, anyone who needs dialysis treatment to filter their blood because of other kidney problems also has a higher risk of developing this type of cancer.
