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• Understanding the Cancer
• Risks of Kidney Cancer
• Symptoms of kidney cancer
• Treatment of kidney cancer

Understanding kidneys

In the lower abdomen, two organs of fist size on both sides of the spine are called kidneys. Adrenal gland is attached to the upper part of the kidney. Each kidney is enclosed by fatty tissues and fibrous tissue. Kidneys have a vital function to perform. They filter blood of water and wastes and produces urine. In the middle of each kidney renal pelvis, a hollow space exit where urine is kept. Ureter transfers urine from renal pelvis into the bladder. The urethra tube evacuates urine from the body. It is also responsible for making those substances that play vital role in controlling blood pressure and making red blood cells.

Understanding the Cancer

Cancer triggers in cells. Cells are the basic foundation of the body that combines to make tissues. Tissues add into each other and put forth organs where body is a collection of a number of organs that are responsible for keeping the body functional. Cancer is the abnormal growth of white blood cells. When the old cells stop to die, they combine to form mass that is called tumor. Tumors are of two types: benign and malignant. The first type is not cancer where the second type is. The malignant tumors offer life threats. Cells of malignant tumors are forceful enough to damage other tissues and cells. Metastasis is the process of spraed of cancer.
There are a number of cancers that can affect kidneys but renal cell cancer is that type which most frequently diagnosed in adults. It is also called renal adenocarcinoma or hypernephroma.  Is another type of kidney cancer that affects the renal pelvis. It shares some characteristics with bladder cancer and often treated in the same manner. The most typical type of cancer in children is Wilms tumor. The childhood cancer is different from the adulthood cancer and must be treated differently. Further details about Wilms tumor and transition cell carcinoma at http://cancer.gov.

In case the kidney cancer has moved out of the kidney then it can affect the nearby lymph nodes. It can also affect the liver, bones and lungs. The cancer of one kidney may or may not affect the other kidney.

Are you at risk?

As it is with other cancers, no one knows what the actual cause of kidney cancer is, however it is more frequently observed in people more than 40 years old. It is also not possible to explain why a person develops cancer in kidney and why not others. It is determined that the kidney cancer is not contagious and there are no harms of one’s getting affected by the other’s cancer. However research has outnumbered a number of people who are at more risk than others. Risk factor is the chance of one’s developing some disease. Here are some causes.

1. Compared to the non-smokers, the smokers have double chances of developing the malignant tumor. Cigar smoking is also injurious to the lungs.
2. The risk factor increases in obese people.
3. High blood pressure also makes one more vulnerable.
4. There are a number of people whose kidneys do not work well properly and they use dialysis to filter wastes and water from the blood. Going through dialysis for years can make the patient vulnerable to kidney cancer.
5. Von Hipple Lindau (VHL) is a rare disease that has been traced in a number of families. The change in VHL gene is the cause of this disease. An abnormal VHL gene increases the risk of kidney cancer.
6. The exposure to certain chemical multiplies the risk factor and makes people an easy victim to the cancer of kidney.
7. It is observed that the male number of kidney cancer patients is greater than the number of females. In the United States alone about 20,000 men and 12,000 women per year develop kidney cancer.

Symptoms of kidney cancer

Some of the common symptoms of kidney cancer are:

1. The deep red or rusty color of urine which shows blood in urine;
2. The side that is not evacuated feels pain;
3. Lymph in the abdomen;
4. Fever;
5. Weight loss; and
6. The feeling of being very tired or having poor health.

The cancer is not limited to these symptoms. Moreover, those who have these symptoms may not be a patient of kidney cancer and those who do not have any of these signs may be a patient. There are no hard and fast rules.

Treatment of kidney cancer

It is not possible that patients of certain disease go through same conditions and treated in a similar manner. The treatment also depends on the size and location of the tumor and the case history of the patient. Both doctor and patient can work out a plan that can fit into the patients’ need. Surgery, arterial embolization, biological therapy, radiation therapy or chemotherapy can be used to treat the cancer. At times a combination of these treatments is employed to facilitate the patient.

• Surgery

It is the most typical kidney cancer treatment that can deal with the tumor and the areas adjacent to the tumor. Nephrectomy is the operation to remove the kidney. Nephrectomy is of several types each of which depends upon the stage of the cancer.

• Radical Nephrectomy: The technique is commonly employed to treat the kidney cancer. The kidney along with the adrenal gland and certain tissues around the kidney are removed by the surgeon. In certain cases some lymph nodes in the affected area are also removed.
• Simple Nephrectomy: In this process, the kidney is only removed. Those who are in the very first stage of cancer can be well tackled by the nephrectomy.
• Partial nephrectomy: In this process, the surgeon only removes the affected part of the kidney. It is employed in those people who have only one kidney or both of his kidneys are affected by the cancer. The surgery can also be used in those people who have a very small affected area less than four centimeters.
• Arterial embolization: The therapy reduces the size of the tumor. The process is usually used before surgery as it helps in making the operation simple and easy. In case surgery can not be done, the process is used to relieve the kidney cancer’s symptoms.
  
  
• Radiation therapy

Radiotherapy is composed of high energy rays that are targeted on the affected area. Rays are directed on the tumor by a big machine. The therapy is used to reduce the size of the tumor before undertaking surgery. Sometimes it is used after the surgery to kill those abnormal cells that have been left during the surgery. The therapy also reduces pain.

• Biological therapy

It is systemic therapy using substances that can travel in the bloodstream and reaches to the affected cells in the body. It uses the natural ability of the body to fight cancer.

• Chemotherapy

It is also a systematic therapy in which anti-cancer drugs are flowed into the body via blood. The technique is not very useful for the treatment of kidney cancer and is mostly avoided.
No one is sure about the cause of kidney cancer the risk factors are only identified. There is a lot of difference between childhood cancer and the adulthood cancer. Blood in urine is the most common symptom of cancer. Treatment depends on the location and size of the tumor. It is best that each of us keeps an eye on our bodies to sort out the cancer as early as possible.

• Understanding the Cancer
• Risks of Kidney Cancer
• Symptoms of kidney cancer
• Treatment of kidney cancer

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SOURCE: U.S. National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, www.cancer.gov

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