Kidney Cancer Treatment Overview
Kidney cancer is a disease that starts in the kidney and happens when healthy cells in the kidney change and grow abnormally and form a lump known as tumour/mass. Renal Cell Carcinoma is mostly found in adults. A tumour can be benign or malignant.
A benign tumour grows but will not spread in the body, whereas a malignant tumour is cancerous and it grows and spread across body parts
Types of Kidney Cancer
Varicocele are basically swollen veins in the scrotum. It is present in 15% of men (normal) and about 40% of infertile men. It’s the most common cause of male infertility. It could be because of abnormal testicular temperature. Varicocele causes low and reduced quality of sperm in men. It harms sperm growth by blocking blood flow. Varicocele makes blood back to the scrotum from the belly and thus making testicles too warm for making sperm, thereby causing low sperm.
It is the most common type of kidney cancer found in almost 85% of cancer cases.
It is one of the rare carcinomas, develops in soft tissues of the kidney. It is usually treated with surgery.
Symptoms Of Kidney Cancer
In the early stages, signs and symptoms are not prevalent. Kidney cancer in later stages include :
- Pain in backside
- Loss of appetite
- Blood in urine c
- Weight loss
- Weakness
- Intermittent fever
Diagnosis
- Basic blood & urine tests
- Imaging tests include and USG, MRI or CT scan to rule out an abnormality in the kidney
- Kidney tissue biopsy, to rule out signs of cancer
Staging
At this stage, tumour size might vary between 6-7 cms and is confined to the kidney only.
This stage defines a large tumour bigger than 6-7 cms and still confined to the kidney.
This stage defines that the tumour has reached beyond the kidney to surrounding areas and has spread to lymph nodes.
At this stage, cancer has already spread outside the kidney, lymph nodes and to various parts of the body, viz, bones, lungs and liver etc.
Line Of Treatment
To treat kidney cancers the surgical line of treatment is the ideal choice to remove tumours and prevent kidney functions.
Radical Nephrectomy
In this procedure, the entire kidney, lymph nodes, adrenal glands are removed. Radical Nephrectomy is performed through a single incision in the abdomen if done open or with few incisions in case of Lap Nephrectomy or Robotic-Assisted lap nephrectomy.
Partial Nephrectomy
In this procedure, the tumour is removed along with some healthy tissue along with the tumour and instead of removing the entire kidney. It can be done as open surgery and laparoscopically. It is performed to preserve kidney function and minimize further risks or complications.
Robotic & Laparoscopic Surgery For Kidney Cancer
Robotic surgeries are less painful but require long hours of surgery and require a special set of training. Overall, laparoscopic surgeries are best selected by maximum surgeons to either remove the specific tumour or entire kidney depending on the disease. Small incisions are required to perform the procedure, taking lesser time in surgery thereby faster recovery and better results.
Chemotherapy
Though chemotherapy is useful for treating most cancer, research reveals that kidney cancer is resistant to chemotherapy and only the Urothelial & Wilms tumours are successfully treated with chemotherapy.
Radiation Therapy
High energy X Rays are used in radiotherapy. It is not an effective line of treatment for kidney cancer and rarely used to treat cancer patients because of the damage it does to kidneys. Radiotherapy is performed on patients who cannot undergo surgery and ease symptoms such as bone pain and swelling.