Kidney cancer: risks, symptoms and treatment
While kidney cancer is still diagnosed at a relatively high rate, outcomes are improving amid research efforts and patient support.
Kidney cancer is diagnosed more than 60,000 times in the U.S. each year, making it one of the 10 most-commonly diagnosed adult cancers in the nation.
The impact of kidney cancer can be wide-ranging because of the large role the organs play in patients’ bodies.
“Kidney Cancer is basically cancer of one or both of your kidneys,” says urologic oncologist Shawn Dason, MD. “The kidneys are really important organs that help with managing fluids, electrolytes and more.”
Symptoms of kidney cancer can vary from patient to patient, but can include fatigue, blood in the urine and abdominal pain. Any of those signs should lead patients to schedule doctors’ visits, as should potential risk factors, including a family history of the disease.
“If there’s a family history of kidney cancer, that’s a key opportunity to screen, and to potentially prevent some of the issues that can arise,” Dason says.
Obesity, smoking, high blood pressure and a history of kidney stones can also contribute to kidney cancer risk.
“There are certain age ranges where kidney cancer is a bit more frequently diagnosed — above age 60,” Dason adds.
Click to learn more about genitourinary cancer care and research at the OSUCCC – James.
For those who are diagnosed with kidney cancer, research has led to treatment advances that improve outcomes for patients in terms of survival and recovery. Individual treatment plans should be tailored for each patient — as they are at the OSUCCC – James — in order to determine whether surgery, medication or a combination of therapies should be used to best suit each case.
“We have a lot of expertise in surgery for advanced kidney cancer, as well as cancer that is metastatic or has spread outside of the kidney,” Dason says. “We also have a number of really important advances in medications. Patients are living a lot longer having a better quality of life with these new therapies that they have access to at The James.”