Kidney Mass and Kidney Cancer

Kidney mass and kidney cancer early diagnosis is critical in saving the kidney and acquiring a positive response to treatments. The presence of a kidney mass can indicate renal cell carcinoma, the most common form of kidney cancer that develops in the tubules of the kidneys. A kidney mass that is not causing malfunction of the kidney or other organs, or other serious conditions, may or may not be treated. However, a cancerous kidney mass may have to be removed to prevent kidney cancer metastasis, or the spreading of kidney cancer cells to other areas in the body.

Kidney mass and kidney cancer can cause a patient quite a bit of discomfort. Kidney cancer symptoms may be mild or non-existent initially but increase as a kidney tumor develops and triggers the symptoms. Signs of kidney cancer can include blood in urine, known as either microscopic hematuria (tiny traces of blood in urine) or gross hematuria (larger amounts of blood in the urine that you can see), pain in the side or back just below the ribs that won’t subside, unexplained fatigue or weight loss, a lump in your side or abdomen, and fever.

Kidney cancer causes are not exactly known. However, there are certain risk factors that can increase the chances of developing cancer of the kidney. These include smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, exposure to certain chemicals, and long-term dialysis. Men are more likely to develop renal cancer than women, and risk increases as you get older, even though kidney tumors can appear at any age.

Kidney cancer treatment is based on a patient’s overall health, age and the kidney cancer stage, or the extent to which the cancer has grown. The stage is determined by measuring the size of the kidney cancer tumor from a CT scan or MRI. Doctors will also consider if the disease has developed into metastatic kidney cancer. There are four stages, with stage 4 kidney cancer being the most serious. At this stage, the kidney cancer spread well past the kidneys into multiple lymph nodes and other organs. Half a million people in the United States are treated for renal cancer each year and about 86,000 die from state 4 kidney cancer.

Kidney mass and kidney cancer, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, kills twelve thousand people in the United States every year. Over fifty thousand people are diagnosed with the disease annually. The lower the stage of cancer that a patient has, the higher the kidney cancer survival rate and the better the kidney cancer prognosis. A patient experiencing kidney cancer signs and symptoms should be examined by a doctor as soon as possible in order to make a proper diagnosis, prevent the cancer from spreading, and determine the best type of kidney treatment.