What is it?
When kidney cells grow quickly and abnormally than usual.
There are many types of kidney cancer:
- Renal cell carcinoma
- Renal medullary carcinoma (rare kidney cancer in patient with sickle cell disease)
- VCL-ALK renal cell carcinoma (rare kidney cancer in patient with sickle cell disease)
- Renal Cell Carcinoma Unclassified With Medullary Phenotype (RCCU-MP) kidney cancer
- Malignant rhabdoid tumor (MRT) Kidney cancer
- Clear cell cancer (hypernephroma)
- Chromophilic
- Chromophobic cancers
- Oncocytic cancers
- Collecting duct cancers
- Sarcomatoid cancers
- Transitional cell cancer (carcinoma). This affects the renal pelvis or ureters and is similar to bladder cancer.
- Wilm’s tumour (nephroblastoma) – is the most common kidney cancer in children.
There are different stage of kidney cancer:
- Stage I. The cancer is found only in one kidney, is completely contained within the kidney, and can be completely removed with surgery.
- Stage II. The cancer has spread to the tissues and structures beyond the affected kidney, such as nearby fat or blood vessels, but it can still be completely removed by surgery.
- Stage III. The cancer has spread beyond the kidney area to nearby lymph nodes or other structures within the abdomen, the tumour may spill within the abdomen before or during surgery, or it may not be completely removed by surgery.
- Stage IV. The cancer has spread outside the kidney to distant structures, such as the lungs, liver, bones or brain.
- Stage V. Cancer cells are found in both kidneys (bilateral tumours).
Symptoms tend to be similar to more ‘common conditions’ hence it is difficult to diagnose, this condition should be considered when treatments for ‘common conditions’ are tried and have failed and/or one is having persistent symptoms.
Cause
- Unknown for many kidney cancers
- Chemical exposure i.e. toxins, asbestos
- Maybe:
- Gaucher disease
- Hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma
- Hereditary leiomyoma-renal cell-renal cell carcinoma
- Mulibrey nanism
- Tuberous sclerosis
Treatments
- Radiation therapy for another cancer in the same region
- Kidney dialysis
Syndromes
Medication
Wilms tumour
Increase risk of having this condition maybe due to:
Children born with certain abnormalities
- About 5 out of every 100 children (5%) who develop a Wilms’ tumour also have a birth defect.
- Most birth defects associated with Wilms’ tumours happen in rare syndromes (a group of symptoms and abnormalities that are present in the same person) that affect several parts of the body, not just the kidneys.
- Trisomy-18 (Edwards syndrome)
WAGR syndrome
- Children with WAGR syndrome/11p deletion syndrome have abnormalities in the coloured part of the eye (iris) and brain.
- There can also be defects in the kidneys, penis, scrotum, clitoris, testicles or ovaries.
- The child may also have a learning disability.
Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome
- Children with Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome have larger than normal internal organs and often have a very big tongue. One arm or leg may be bigger than the other.
Denys-Drash Syndrome
- Boy babies do not develop a penis, scrotum or testicles and can be mistaken for girls.
- They also have damaged kidneys.
- Girls can also have Denys-Drash syndrome and they only have problems with their kidneys.
- A Wilms’ tumour can grow in the damaged kidney.
A family history of Wilms’ tumour
- About 1 of every 100 children (about 1%) with a Wilms’ tumour have at least one relative who has had the same type of cancer.
- These children are at an increased risk of developing a Wilms’ tumour because they have inherited an abnormal gene from one of their parents.
Cancer Research UK
Symptoms
- Long term persistent indigestion, frequent heartburn or constant abdominal pain and swelling?
- Abdominal pain and/or are constant violently vomiting or vomiting longer than two days (one day if a child)?
- High temperature greater than 38°C (100°F) or over and/or chills and sweats longer than 72 hours?
- Blood in the urine?
- Constipation?
- Loss of appetite?
- Shortness of breath/breathing difficulties?
- High blood pressure?
- General discomfort (muscle weakness), uneasiness or ill feeling (malaise) and/or fatigue (tiredness)?
- Swelling in legs and ankles?
- Unexplained Weight loss?
- Pain in pelvis area and/or lower back and/or intense pain in the back or side (or moving pain from back to side) or in groin area?
- Swollen lymph glands and/or recurring mouth ulcers?
- Bone pain?
- Initially a persistent dry cough which has now become a chesty cough with yellow/green and/or blood stained phlegm?
- Anaemic (i.e. lack of oxygen in blood, due to lack of iron, folic acid or blood loss)?
Complications /Information to beware of/General tips:
Kidney failure urine colour
- The colour of your urine is a small window into your body’s health. It doesn’t tell you much about the state of your kidney function until damage to the kidneys has progressed.
Still, changes to urine colour may alert you of some issues.
- Clear or pale yellow. This colour indicates you’re well hydrated. This is the ideal color in most cases.
- Dark yellow or amber. You may be dehydrated. Try drinking more water and cutting down on dark sodas, tea, or coffee.
- Orange. This could be a sign of dehydration, or it might be a sign of bile in your bloodstream. Kidney disease doesn’t typically cause this.
- Pink or red. Urine with a pink tint or bit of red could have blood in it. It could also be caused by certain foods, like beets or strawberries. A quick urine test can tell the difference.
- Foamy. Urine with excess bubbles is a sign that it likely has a lot of protein in it. Protein in urine is a sign of kidney disease.
Healthline
This condition may show similar symptoms to:
Please talk to your healthcare professional (i.e. Medical Doctor/Pharmacist) for further advice
Detailed Information
Please copy and paste any key words from the title: Kidney Cancer in the following respective 'Medtick References and/or Sources' to find out more about the disease (this also may include diagnosis tests and generic medical treatments).
- NHS
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- Medscape
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- National Organisation of Rare Diseases
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- Verywell Health
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