Renal Cancer

Epidemiology

Kidney cancer is a relatively rare tumor however in recent years there has been a significant increase of cases. The most common histological type is clear cell carcinoma. Increasing age is accompanied by an increased risk of developing the disease while men are twice as likely to get the disease as women.

Causes

• Smoking
• Obesity
• Hypertension
• Diet (fat-sugar)
• Exposure to chemicals (cadmium, asbestos, petroleum products)
• Hemodialysis
• High concentration of heavy metals in water
• Family predisposition

Symptoms

• Blood in the urine either visible or in a urine test
• Pain in the kidney area
• Weight loss
• Cachexia – payment of forces
• Fever
• High blood pressure

Diagnosis

• Clinical examination
• Urine analysis – Cytological examination
• Kidney ultrasound
• Intravenous pyelography
• Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging

Early diagnosis and treatment play a crucial role in the treatment of the disease.

Treatment

• Surgery (radical nephrectomy or not), laparoscopic or not.
• Radiotherapy
• Immunotherapy
• Therapy with biologic agents

In recent years there has been great progress in the treatment of kidney cancer based on a better understanding of the biology of the disease. Many new treatments have been discovered that fight targeted features of the cancer cells with great precision, high efficiency and relatively few side effects.