Kidney cancer, also known as kidney cancer, is a relatively common type of cancer that primarily affects men between the ages of 55 and 75, causing symptoms such as blood in the urine, constant back pain or increased blood pressure. Like what.
In general, the most common type of kidney cancer is renal carcinoma, which can be easily cured by surgery, if identified early. However, if the cancer has already developed metastasis, treatment may be more difficult and other treatments, such as radiation therapy, may be necessary in addition to surgery.
- Signs and symptoms of kidney cancer are rare in the early stages of the disease.
- But as the cancer progresses.
- Some symptoms may appear.
- The main:.
In addition, because the kidneys are responsible for regulating blood pressure and erythrocyte production, a sudden change in blood pressure values is common, as well as a marked increase or decrease in the amount of erythrocytes in blood tests.
If these symptoms occur, it is important to consult a general practitioner or nephrologist to assess if there are any problems that may be causing the symptoms and, if so, identify the cancer at an early stage, which facilitates treatment.
To evaluate what’s happening in your kidneys and analyze your cancer hypothesis, your doctor may order a variety of tests such as ultrasound, chest x-ray, CT or MRI, for example.
Ultrasound is usually the first test that is requested, as it helps identify and evaluate possible lumps and cysts in the kidney, which may indicate cancer. On the other hand, other tests may be done to confirm the diagnosis or to stage the disease.
Treatment for kidney cancer depends on the size and development of the tumor, but the main forms of treatment include:
This is done in almost all cases and helps remove the affected part of the kidney. Therefore, when cancer is identified at an early stage, surgery may be the only form of treatment needed, as it can kill all cancer cells and cure cancer.
In more advanced cases of cancer, surgery may be associated with radiation therapy, for example, to reduce the size of the tumor and facilitate treatment.
In this type of treatment drugs such as Sunitinib, Pazopanib or Axitinib are used, which strengthen the immune system and facilitate the elimination of cancer cells.
However, this type of treatment is not effective in all cases and, as a result, your doctor may need to perform several evaluations during treatment to adjust doses and even stop using these medications.
This technique is usually used in cases of more advanced cancer when the person’s health does not allow surgery, and prevents blood from passing to the affected area of the kidney, causing his death.
To do this, your surgeon inserts a small tube, called a catheter, into your groin artery and guides it to your kidney. It then injects a substance that closes the blood vessels and prevents the passage of blood.
Radiation therapy is usually used in cases of cancer with metastasis, as it uses radiation to slow the development of the cancer and prevent metastases from continuing to develop.
This type of treatment is usually used before surgery to make the tumor smaller and easier to remove, or after, to remove cancer cells that have not been removed with surgery.
Although it only takes a few minutes of treatment each day, radiation therapy has several side effects such as excessive fatigue, diarrhea or nausea all the time.
Kidney cancer, in addition to being more common in men after age 60, is also more common in people with:
In addition, those who need dialysis treatment to filter the blood, due to other kidney problems, also have an increased risk of developing this type of cancer.