Do you know what renal cell carcinoma is? It is the most commonly occurring type of kidney cancer and it accounts for up to ninety percent of patients with kidney cancer. Doctors will explain that the malignant or cancer cells may have originated from the kidney tubules though the medical field is yet to determine the cause why people develop this type of cancer.

Knowing the risk factors:

There are a lot of  risk factor that can makes a person more susceptible to diseases like cancer. For renal cell carcinoma the risk factors are:

• Being male and especially over 50 years of age
• Is undergoing a dialysis
• Has Von Hippel-Lindau disease – a genetic disorder where the person’s cancer cells are very active
• People who smoke
• Family history
• Abusive intake of over-the-counter drugs

What are the symptoms of renal cell carcinoma?

Most of the time, this type of cancer is only detected by accident while another disease is being examined because this cancer only manifests once the cells have already progressed. The symptoms are:

• Blood in the urine either visible or microscopic
• The abdomen becomes larger than usual
• Pain either on the side or in the lower back
• Sudden weight loss
• Feeling of tiredness all the time

How is renal cell carcinoma diagnosed?

One reason where the doctor suspects kidney cancer is when he finds bulky tissue or obvious mass after x-ray. To see if it really is cancer the patient will have to undergo a series of imaging and blood tests. Finally, a kidney biopsy will confirm whether there really is cancer and what type of cancer it is. If it is certain to be cancer, more tests will be done to determine how far the cancer cells have spread.

How is renal cell carcinoma treated?

There are several methods for treatment. These are:

• Immunotherapy or biological therapy – this is a systemic type of treatment where the doctor prescribes special medication to stimulate the production of elements in our immune system to fight the cancer.
• Surgery – removing the entire organ or maybe just a part that has been affected by the malignant cells. Only people who are still in the early stage of the cancer can undergo surgery because those on the later stage are not strong enough to endure the procedure.
• Radiation – this type of therapy is done more to reduce pain rather than for treatment because the cancer cells of renal cell carcinoma do not respond to the high energy beam treatment unlike other types of cancer.
• Chemotherapy – this is not commonly used as therapy as well because just like radiation, the cancer cells do not respond to this treatment that makes any difference. However, Chemotherapy is used along with immunotherapy or only if immunotherapy is also ineffective.

Prevention is better than cure. This is so true for cancer. Since cancer is detected only in the advanced stages it is always best to practice healthy habits now and reduce the risk factors that make us susceptible to diseases like renal cell carcinoma.