Everything You Need to Know about Renal Cancer
Renal cancer is one of the striking diseases that keep occurring in various stages. It has been found that the country has seen a major surge in the growth of kidney cancer that accounts for around 63,990 every year with a mortality rate of 14,000 per annum.
Renal cancer is the 10 th most common cancer that affects one among the 63 individuals. Researchers have also found that age group between 50 years and above is generally affected by the seriousness of this disease. It has been determined that before the malignancies develop, there are symptoms that may successfully detect the stages of cancer and cure it before they metastasize.
What are the causes of renal carcinoma?
- Cancer in the renal cells is caused by the uncontrolled proliferation of the cells that is because the genetic elements in the cells get mutated.
- It is an inheritable factor that increases chances of the disease to occur if there are instances of the disease in the family history.
- The genetic conditions like the VHL disease or papillary cell carcinoma can also result in kidney cancer.
- It has been estimated that subject having lymphoma have the risk to have renal cancer.
What are the symptoms of renal carcinoma?
The initial stages of renal carcinoma are not accompanied by any kind of symptoms but might generate in the later stages which include the following
- Hematuria is a stage where the urine is found in the blood. This is a common symptom for those who have a bladder infection or kidney stones.
- There can be lump formation on the posterior lower side of the back.
- Chronic pain in the lower back at one side is another established symptom.
- Unexplained loss of appetite and weight.
- Common fatigue and tiredness instances.
- There can be rare instances of anemia where the blood cell count drops.
- Intermittent fever that can occur at any time is a common symptom of renal cancer.
How can renal cancer be treated?
Based on the complication of cancer there can be a number of treating ways.
The surgical method of treatment
It is majorly done in the case there is a scope to remove a tumor to retain the normal functioning of the kidney.
- A radical nephrectomy is a surgical approach where the border of the healthy tissues is removed along with some accompanied lymph node, adjacent tissue. This can be done either by making a single incision at one side of the kidney or using a series of incision that is referred to as the laparoscopic nephrectomy.
- Another method is the partial nephrectomy where the tumor cells are removed accompanied by a narrow margin of healthy cells. It is also done using the laparoscopic procedure or open cut surgery.
Non-surgical methods
This is applicable if the tumors are small and at their initial stages;
- Cryoablation is a hollow needle with cold gas specially designed to be pierced through the skin in the tumor of the kidney using the aid of ultrasonic images. This is used to freeze the cancer cells.
- Radio-frequency ablation causes the renal cancer cell to burn due to a special needle that has a current to transmit to the cells.
- Radiation therapy where the high penetrating power X-ray radiation kills the cancer cells from proliferating.
