Renal or kidney cancer like any other form of cancer is daunting and excruciating not only physically but psychologically as well. It cannot be denied that some people upon hearing the news are at denial or anger. These feelings are normal and apart from that renal cancer prognosis is also tackled by the doctor to help them gauge their survival rate and how they plan for the different treatment options.
Early detection:
Kidney cancer prognosis depends on the early detection of the problem. However the problem with kidney cancer and even other forms of cancer is the signs and symptoms experienced. Sometimes the diagnosis is on the latter stage of the cancer because it was not detected early. It is advised to contact the doctor whenever these symptoms are experienced:
- Blood tinge urine or blood in the urine or hematuria
- Lower back pain that does not go away after a few days
- Sudden weight loss
- Body malaise or feeling tired all the time
These signs and symptoms may be common and is associated with other kidney or urinary problems. Thus, it is important to talk to the doctors so they can run tests and properly assess the patient’s condition.
Cancer staging:
Renal cancer should be staged so that appropriate renal cancer prognosis is dealt with. This also helps the severity of the disease so. There are 4 stages of cancer where stage 1 involves early detection and the cancer cells are still in the kidney. The other parts are still not affected so the kidney cancer prognosis is good. According to research about 95% of the patients in this stage can survive for 5 years or more.
Stage 2 is the start of the not-so-good news when it comes to the prognosis. The cancer cells have advanced to the neighboring organs of the kidney. 70% chance of survival rate is evident after 5 years or more.
The third stage is like the second stage but more advanced. The cancer cells have metastasized and only up to 40% of survival. Lastly the 4th stage is the most severe stage where only 10% of survival rate is possible within 5 years.
Although the cancer staging may be an accurate statistics about renal cancer prognosis, the chances of survival still depend on the treatment done and how the body responds to the treatment. The body reacts differently to different treatment options so some cancer patients still are treated or live longer than expected.
