Cancer – whenever we hear this word, we mostly freak out. This life-threatening disease can occur in any part of our body. The cancerous cells have the tendency to grow rapidly, damaging the adjacent organs as well. The number of cancer patients has been increasing year by year owing to unhealthy lifestyles, environmental changes, and so on.
One of the types of cancer that has been detected in high numbers in people over the past few years is Kidney Cancer. The cancerous cells begin to develop in the kidney. If detected at the early stage, kidney cancer can be cured but at later stages, it can lead to death.
What is kidney cancer?
The most common type of cancer to occur in the kidney is Renal Cell Cancer. It starts to grow with one or more tumours in either one kidney or both. It has various subtypes which help the doctors determine the suitable treatment.
What causes kidney cancer?
There are many factors associated with the development of cancerous cells inside your kidney. One of the reasons can be due to changes that occur in our DNA with time. When the genes which help cancerous cells to grow turn on and the tumour supposer genes get turned off, they result in the growth of cancer. Although, kidney cancer can also be caused by hereditary factors. If someone in your blood family had such type of cancer, then you can be at risk of getting the same.
Unhealthy eating habits and lifestyle also adds to building cancer inside our kidney. Obesity is another risk factor as it disturbs our hormones and makes our body more prone to serious illnesses.
What are the symptoms of kidney cancer?
Cancer does not show any specific signs at an early stage but the following symptoms may develop gradually:
- Blood in your urine
- Pain in your back or side that doesn’t go away
- Loss of appetite
- Unexplained weight loss
- Tiredness
- Fever
Can we prevent kidney cancer?
The answer is, no. In many patients, the cause of the cancer is undetectable. Even, if we detect the reason for it, it can’t be prevented. However, we can still make some positive changes in our life to keep ourselves healthy. Keeping a healthy weight, exercising, eating a balanced diet, quitting smoking and drinking can make some positive changes in our life.
Testing and Treatment
Kidney cancer can’t be detected with mere physical examinations. People who have a doubt of having kidney cancer must do MRI or a CT scan to detect cancer. In the early stage of cancer, when the cancer is only confined to a single kidney, removing the kidney can prevent the spread. While at the later stages, doctors advise the treatment as per the patient’s condition.
