Kidney cancer accounts for roughly 3 percent of all cancers, according to the Cleveland Clinic. There is a one in 75 chance you will be diagnosed with kidney cancer in the course of your lifetime, but if you are a man, your risk is slightly higher.
Types
There are four types of kidney cancer: renal cell carcinoma, Wilms' tumor, transitional cell carcinoma and renal sarcoma. Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer. In children, the Wilms' tumor is the most common type.
Risk Factors
Males, people who are obese, those who smoke, long-term dialysis patients, people who suffer from Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, those with tuberous sclerosis and people with a family history of kidney cancer are at an increased risk of being diagnosed with the disease. Exposure to cadmium and asbestos has also been linked to kidney cancer.
Symptoms
Kidney cancer is most often characterized by blood in the urine, severe and unrelenting pain on one side of the back or abdomen, lumps in the abdomen, and lower back pain that isn't caused by injury. Other symptoms include rapid and unexplained weight loss, recurring fever, edema and loss of appetite.
Diagnosis and Treatment
In addition to a routine medical exam with a detailed medical history, MRIs, CT scans, ultrasounds, intravenous pyelograms, blood tests, urinalyses, and ateriography are used to diagnose kidney cancer. Treatments include nephrectomy (surgically removing the affected kidney), arterial embolization, immunotherapy, hormone therapy, radiation and chemotherapy.
Recurrence
About 20 to 30 percent of people treated for kidney cancer will have a recurrence of cancer, most often in the lungs and most often within three years of treatment. But a recurrence is also common in the previously unaffected kidney.
