What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

How does kidney cancer develop?

The main task of these organs (kidneys) is to filter waste products from blood and excrete them in urine. But they also help control your blood pressure and ensure you get enough red blood cells. Kidney cancer, also called renal cell carcinoma, occurs when one or both cell types start to spiral out of control and form a tumor that crowds out healthy cells. This cancer is one of 10 most common cancers in both men and women.

renal cell carcinoma

Although there are many types of kidney cancer, 9 out of 10 people who develop kidney cancer have this type of kidney cancer. Usually there is one tumor in one kidney, but there can be more than one and they can occur in both kidneys at same time.

What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

Frequency

Most people diagnosed with kidney cancer are between ages of 50 and 70. Men are 2-3 times more likely than women to develop this disease. High blood pressure, kidney disease, and certain genetic problems, such as von Hippel-Lindau disease, can also increase your chances of developing kidney cancer. Kidney cancer is also inherited.

What else can you do to increase your chances of developing kidney cancer

1. Smoking: risk is doubled. It is believed that 30% of men and 25% of women develop kidney cancer.

2. Overweight. People who are overweight or obese are almost twice as likely to develop kidney cancer.

3. Environmental pollution: such as cadmium or trichlorethylene.

What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

Kidney cancer symptoms

If you have a small tumor, you may not notice any signs, but larger ones can cause following problems:

1. Hematuria;

2. There is a lump in waist or waist area;

3. Lower back pain;

4. Feeling tired;

5. Weight loss;

6. Fever.

What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

Diagnosis: urine and blood tests

If your doctor thinks you may have kidney cancer, they will run a series of tests. This may start with a urinalysis to check for blood or cancer cells in urine. He may also do a blood test to see how your kidneys are functioning and a complete blood count to make sure you have normal numbers of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. People with kidney cancer are often anemic, meaning they don't have enough red blood cells.

Diagnosis: imaging tests

The doctor may take some pictures to take a closer look at your kidneys:

  • Ultrasound. Sound waves create black and white images on a computer screen.
  • Computed tomography (CT): x-rays taken from different angles are combined to provide a more complete picture.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Magnets and radio waves create detailed images.
  • Positron emission tomography (PET): Radiation produces colored 3D images.
  • What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

    Gold standard: biopsy

    A biopsy is rarely needed for kidney cancer, but only in very rare cases. If doctors decide they need it, they will recommend surgery to take a tiny sample from tumor with a needle so it can be tested. In this case, a biopsy is used to find out if you have cancer.

    Cancer Assessment

    If you do have cancer, your doctor will try to predict how fast it will grow. It will evaluate and classify cancer cells based on how healthy they are. Kidney cancer can be grades 1, 2, 3, or 4-4. cells Very different in appearance from normal cells (higher malignancy) and grows fastest.

    Cancer stage

    The doctor will also try to tell you how far cancer has spread - it could be stage I, II, III, or IV. Stage I cancer is only in your kidney, while stage IV cancer has spread to other parts of your body.

    What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

    Treatment plan

    Your doctor will advise most appropriate treatment options depending on type of kidney cancer, grade and stage of cancer, your age, and any other health problems you may have.

    Surgery - surgical resection

    This is most common treatment in which doctor may remove only part of kidney where tumor is located, leaving healthy part to continue working. For most people, one kidney is sufficient.

    Targeted therapy

    Kidney tumors form their own network of blood vessels, which allows them to grow. The new drug acts on these blood vessels while leaving normal blood vessels alone. Without blood, tumors stop growing and even shrink. This therapy is used to treat more advanced renal cell carcinoma. Other targeted therapies block mTOR protein, which promotes growth of cancer cells.

    Immunotherapy

    The idea is to boost your immune system so it can fight or kill cancer cells. If targeted therapies don't work for you, your doctor may suggest immunotherapy.

    What do you know about medical guidelines for treating kidney cancer?

    Chemotherapy

    This is a combination of powerful drugs used to kill fast growing cells. It doesn't seem to work well for kidney cancer, but your doctor may try it if other treatments don't work.

    Radiation therapy

    This treatment uses high-energy beams to kill cancer cells or shrink tumors. Kidney cancer is less sensitive to radiation, so it is used infrequently. Radiation therapy can also be tried if you can't have surgery (missed chance) or to relieve symptoms such as pain or bleeding.

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