The typical three major symptoms of kidney cancer

Written by Zou De Bo
Urology
Updated on September 08, 2024
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The typical three major symptoms of kidney cancer are hematuria, pain, and a mass. If these three symptoms appear, it generally indicates that the condition has reached an advanced stage, at which point the patient may have missed the optimal timing for treatment. Surgery at this stage may also be challenging to perform completely. Therefore, early detection and treatment are essential. The five-year survival rate after kidney cancer surgery is as high as 97% for many people. Thus, overall, the prognosis for kidney cancer is relatively good. However, the best treatment approach remains surgery, including nephron-sparing surgery and radical nephrectomy, depending on the size of the tumor. Generally, for tumors smaller than four centimeters, nephron-sparing treatment can be adopted.

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Written by Zou De Bo
Urology
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Is kidney cancer prone to metastasis?

Kidney cancer in its early stages generally does not metastasize. If it does metastasize, it usually follows several paths: one is hematogenous or lymphatic spread, followed by local diffusion, and then the tumor invades surrounding fat or blood vessels, which is local diffusion. It is also important to note that there is a pseudo-capsule around the kidney cancer that prevents the spread of cancer cells. Metastasis is not likely when the tumor is small, but as the tumor size increases or in some special types of tumor cells, metastasis may occur.

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Written by Zeng Zhong
Urology
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Is vomiting severe in renal cancer?

Patients with kidney cancer who experience vomiting are facing a serious situation because nausea and vomiting are common symptoms among late-stage cancer patients and are often more distressing than the pain from cancer itself. Nausea and vomiting may be side effects of treatment, or they might be caused by cancer invading the digestive and nervous systems. People who are ill often feel anxious, which is also one of the reasons causing vomiting. Cancer patients need to pay extra attention to their diet, as this can greatly aid their treatment. In daily life, it is beneficial to consume more fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes, focusing on light meals to ensure a balanced diet and supplement various nutrients.

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Written by Zhou Qi
Nephrology
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Can renal cancer be detected by ultrasound?

Ultrasound is a type of imaging examination that can observe the size, shape, structure, texture, and the presence of masses in the organs being examined. It can be used to determine if a patient potentially has kidney-related masses, such as differentiating between a kidney cyst and kidney cancer based on differences in shape and blood supply that malignant tumors typically exhibit compared to other conditions. However, using ultrasound to diagnose kidney cancer can be inaccurate, particularly in the early stages of the disease when ultrasound may not provide a clear view, and some complex cases of kidney cancer may still be indeterminate. Therefore, patients might consider undergoing an enhanced CT scan, which offers a higher diagnostic accuracy. Additionally, a kidney biopsy and pathological examination might be necessary for a definitive diagnosis.

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Written by Ji Kang
Nephrology
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Is kidney cancer the same as uremia?

Kidney cancer cannot be equated with uremia. Kidney cancer is a malignant tumor of the kidney. Its treatment can be through surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and so on. Uremia, on the other hand, is the end-stage development of various kidney diseases. It is a clinical syndrome characterized by the loss of most or all kidney function, leading to sodium and water retention, various electrolyte disorders, and the accumulation of toxins such as urea nitrogen and creatinine. The treatment of uremia relies on hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, or kidney transplantation. Although kidney cancer is not uremia, severe kidney cancer can also develop into uremia. At that time, blood replacement therapy is also needed.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
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What are the early symptoms of kidney cancer?

Kidney cancer is a common malignant tumor in the urinary system. Many patients with early-stage kidney cancer do not show any symptoms clinically and are incidentally discovered during medical examinations. Many patients in the early stages may also present with painless hematuria, sometimes as gross hematuria and sometimes as microscopic hematuria. Some patients may experience pain in the kidney area due to blood clots formed after hematuria, mainly presenting as intermittent episodes of mild back pain. Additionally, some patients in the early stages might show symptoms of paraneoplastic syndrome, such as hypertension and fever, but these clinical symptoms generally occur at a very low frequency. When patients present with obvious clinical symptoms, it often indicates that the kidney cancer has metastasized, leading to a clinical presentation of mid-to-late stage kidney cancer.