Kidney cancer
Note: The information on cancer types on the ACRF website is not designed to provide medical or professional advice and is for information only. If you have any health problems or questions please consult your doctor.
Overview
A person has two kidneys, which are bean shaped organs to the left and right of the lower backbone that independently filter impurities from the blood and process them as urine. Urine then passes from the kidneys, through the ureter tubes, to the bladder.
Primary kidney cancer is a cancerous tumour that begins in the kidney – the two main types are renal-cortical tumours and transitional cell tumours.
Most kidney tumours of the renal-cortical family and occur when cancerous cells develop in the lining of the small tubes that help the kidneys process blood. A large number of these cancers are malignant. Often kidney tumours contain more than one cancer cell type. Generally a cancers’ aggressiveness will be graded by looking at these different cells under the microscope.
Transitional cell tumors of the kidneys and ureters are similar to bladder tumours, appearing as small growths in the kidney lining. In most cases, this form of cancer will be confined to the kidney’s lining and is unlikely to spread.
An uncommon kidney cancer is transitional cell cancer of the renal pelvis. There is also a rare kidney cancer that affects children, called Wilms Tumour.
Treatment
Treatment will depend on how large and invasive a tumour is, and whether it has spread to nearby organs.
Most commonly, surgery is used to treat kidney cancer and often it is the only treatment needed.
Sometimes only part of the kidney is removed, so that the organ’s function is preserved. At other times, when cancer is more advanced, the whole kidney may be removed.
During the surgery, the doctor may remove nearby lymph nodes to examine them for cancer cells. Doctors will examine the cells of the tumor to determine which type of cancer is present.
Chemotherapy is sometimes used in addition to surgery, however coventional renal cancer is not responsive to this treatment, so most drugs used are under clinical trial evaluation.
Transitional cell carcinoma is receptive to chemotherapy. When this form of cancer is found on the surface of the renal pelvis or ureter, it may be treated by laser surgery, which uses a narrow beam of light to remove cancer cells.
Immunotherapies, which use substances that stimulate the body’s immune system, may be used to treat kidney tumours that have invaded other parts of the body.
Additionally, radiation therapy is sometimes used as the primary treatment, if a patient is not well enough to undergo surgery, and can relieve pain caused by the cancer.
