Kidney Cancer

• It can occur in anyone, but is more common in older people.
• The earlier kidney cancer is diagnosed, the better the chances of survival.
  

There is no known cause for the development of kidney cancer. There are factors that may increase the risk of developing kidney cancer:

• Smoking
• Obesity, poor diet.
• Hypertension (High blood pressure).
• Chronic kidney disease.
• Workplace exposure to chemicals.
• Family history, which accounts for about 4-6% of kidney cancer cases.
  

More than half of kidney cancer diagnosis are found by chance (incidental).

Symptoms

Kidney cancer may have no symptoms in the early stages.

• Haematuria (blood in the urine).
• Pain in the flanks, between ribs and hips.
• Low back pain on one side that does not go away.
• Loss of appetite.
• Weight loss not caused by dieting.
• Fever that is not caused by infection and does not go away.
• Anaemia (low red blood cell count).
  

The main goal of treatment for kidney cancer is to cure the cancer and protect the kidney function (longterm) whenever possible.

Kidney cancer can be treated by multiple procedures, including:

• Nephron sparing surgery (for very small tumours, less than 3cms).
• Partial nephrectomy: the tumour and the diseased part of the kidney are removed but the healthy part is left.
• Radical nephrectomy: the entire kidney is removed.
  

In either modality, surgery is performed minimally invasive, by laparoscopy, or robotic approach, where the surgeon makes 3-4 small holes in the abdomen and the kidney cancer is removed.