Symptoms, Diagnosis & Risk Factors

Symptoms

Kidney cancer is often undiscovered until the later stages. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, a lump in the abdomen, fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, recurrent fevers not associated with colds or flu, and a pain in the side that doesn't go away.

Diagnosis

Kidney cancer is diagnosed with several tests. Blood or urine tests, biopsy, and imaging scans.

Bood tests check the number of red blood cells, and urine test detect blood, bacteria, or cancer cells. These tests may suggest that kidney cancer is present, but cannot make a definite diagnosis.

Biopsies are when a small amount of tissue is removed and examined under a microscope by a pathologist. Other tests can suggest that cancer is present, but only a biopsy can make a definite diagnosis. The pathologist identifies the type of cell involved in the kidney cancer, which is important in planning treatment.

Imaging test look at the inside of the body.

• Intravenous pyelogram (IVP). A dye is injected into the patient’s bloodstream to highlight the kidney, urethra, and bladder when an X-ray is taken. The picture produced can show changes in these organs and in the nearby lymph nodes.
• Bone scan. Uses a radioactive tracer that is injected into a patient’s vein to look at the bones. It collects in areas of the bone and is detected by a special camera. Healthy bone appears gray to the camera, cancerous areas appear dark.
• CT scan. Creates a three-dimensional picture of the inside of the body with an X-ray machine. A computer then combines these images into a detailed, cross-sectional view that shows any abnormalities or tumors. Sometimes, a contrast medium (a special dye) is injected into a patient’s vein to provide better detail.
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Uses magnetic fields to produce detailed images of the body. A contrast medium may be injected into a patient’s vein to create a clearer picture.
• Positron emission tomography (PET). Creates pictures of organs and tissues inside the body. A small amount of a radioactive substance is injected into a patient’s body and absorbed by the organs or tissues being studied. The scanner can see this substance and produces the images.  PET scanning can be helpful in monitoring tumor shrinkage during treatment.
• X-ray. An X-ray is a picture of the inside of the body.
• Cystoscopy/nephro-ureteroscopy. This test is rarely used for kidney cancer patients. Patients are sedated and a tiny lighted tube is inserted into the bladder through the urethra and up into the kidney. The device can remove samples of cells and, in some cases, small tumors.

Risk Factors

Kidney cancer usually affects people over the age of 50. Men are more likely to get the disease then women, and smokers are twice as likely to get kidney cancer as nonsmokers. Being overweight, and having a high-fat diet also increases the risk of getting kidney cancer.

Sometimes, substances in the workplace, such as asbestos, cadmium (a trace metal), and organic solvents (especially trichloroethylene), may also be risk factors for kidney cancer. Occupations that have been linked to asbestos exposure include builders, car mechanics, and shipyard workers. Other occupations linked to kidney cancer include leather tanners and shoe workers.

Other risk factors include long-term kidney dialysis, a faulty gene that makes a person more susceptible to kidney cancer, and four inherited diseases: Von Hippel Lindau syndrome, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, Hereditary non-VHL clear cell renal cell cancer, and Hereditary papillary renal cell cancer. People with tuberous sclerosis--a disease associated with several bumps on the skin, seizures, mental retardation, and cysts in the kidneys, liver, and pancreas is also at a greater risk.