How Is Kidney Cancer Diagnosed and Which Kidney Cancer Treatment Is Best For Me?
Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that starts in your kidneys. The most common type of kidney cancer found in adult cases is renal cell carcinoma. The kidneys are responsible for cleaning or filtering the blood and removing waste and excess water thus making urine as a way to expel these products from the body. The kidneys are also responsible for producing red blood cells. When the kidney produces more red blood cells than the body needs this can result in the formation of tumors.
Tumors can be either benign or malignant. Benign tumors are usually not life threatening and are fairly easy to get rid of whereas malignant tumors are much more difficult. Malignant tumors are cancerous and in some cases life threatening.
When a person is diagnosed with this disease there are several treatments available. Which kidney cancer treatment is recommended is dependent on several things including the stage of kidney cancer present, the age and general health of the individual and what areas of the kidneys are affected.
There are several tests that are used in order to determine if kidney cancer has spread to other areas of the body. This process is called staging the disease. These tests include a CT or CAT scan, MRI, Bone scan and x-rays of the chest.
A CT or Cat scan is a procedure in which a machine takes several pictures of the inside of the body from different positions. In some cases dyes may be injected into veins or swallowed orally so that organs and tissues may be seen more clearly. This procedure is also known as computerized tomography.
An MRI also known as magnetic resonance imaging is another way doctors take pictures of the inside of a person’s body. This is done with the use of a computer as well as magnets and radio waves.
A bone scan is a process in which a radioactive substance is injected into the veins and collects in the bone to determine if cancerous cells have collected in the bone. This is then detected with a scanner.
An x-ray is another way of taking pictures of the inside of the body using energy beams.
These tests help to determine which stage of kidney cancer is present and which kidney cancer treatment will be the most effective for a particular person.
The basic forms of treatment include surgery which may consist of partial or total nephrectomy which is a removal of all or part of the kidney affected. If it is necessary to remove all of both kidneys a person will have to undergo dialysis to do the work the kidneys do and eventually undergo a kidney transplant.
Radiation therapy is a treatment method where energy beams and radiation are used to destroy the damaged cells. Because it is not possible to limit this destruction to cancerous cells then healthy cells may also be destroyed.
Chemotherapy is also a treatment in which drugs are used to destroy cancer cells or prevent them from dividing.
Which kidney cancer treatment is used is dependent on the stage of the disease and may be different from one person to the next.
