Kidney Cancer: Don't Ignore These Signs, Here's What You Need to Know

Kidney cancer usually starts in the kidneys, but if not caught early, it can travel through the blood and lymph nodes to other parts of the body.

Kidney cancer is mainly seen in older people, with most patients being over 60. Our kidneys play a super important role – they flush out toxins from our body, balance electrolytes, and even help control blood pressure.

Who is more at risk for kidney cancer?

Exposure to cancer-causing things like tobacco increases the risk. People who are obese, have high blood pressure, or have been taking painkillers for a long time are also more vulnerable. Besides this, those with existing kidney problems or who have been on dialysis for a long time can also develop kidney cancer.

Key Symptoms

In the beginning, the cancer stays only in the kidneys. But it can spread to other organs like the lungs, bones, brain, and liver through the bloodstream and lymph nodes.

Early symptoms: The main signs to watch out for are a lump or swelling on your side below the ribs, a nagging backache, stomach pain, and blood in your urine.

Symptoms when it spreads: If the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, the symptoms can get more serious. This includes severe and constant back pain, bad headaches, vomiting, blurry vision, seizures, and feeling breathless.

How is it diagnosed?

During a physical check-up of the stomach, a doctor might feel an unusual lump. For a more accurate diagnosis, doctors mainly use radiological imaging tests like Contrast CT and MRI scans. But, you can't rely completely on imaging tests alone. Sometimes, they show growths in the kidney that might lead to a wrong diagnosis. The good news is that most kidney cancers are found early as small tumours. In the past, the standard procedure was a 'radical nephrectomy', where the entire affected kidney was removed. But things have changed. Now, for patients with less severe cases, doctors suggest either a 'partial nephrectomy' or just keeping a close watch. With a partial nephrectomy, only the cancerous part of the kidney is removed. This helps save a large part of the healthy kidney tissue and keeps it functioning.