What are signs of renal cell (kidney) cancer?
Signs of renal cell cancer include blood in the urine and a lump in the abdomen. The National Cancer Institute also lists side pain that does not go away. Loss of appetite, weight loss for no known reason, and anemia round out the list.
These and other signs may be caused by renal cell cancer or by other conditions. Renal cell cancer is a disease in which cancer cells are found in the lining of tubules in the kidney. Tubules are the very small tubes that filter blood, pull out waste, and make urine.
Early kidney cancer may cause no signs at all. MedlinePlus says symptoms may only appear as the cancer grows. That means you should not wait for several signs to show up. Any one of the signs above is reason enough to be checked.
Blood in the urine deserves its own paragraph. The medical word is hematuria. It may be visible, turning urine pink, red, or the color of cola. It may also be invisible, showing up only when a lab checks a urine sample under a microscope. Blood in the urine is never something to ignore, even when it does not hurt. Ask for testing before anyone puts it down to a stone or an infection.
Some things raise the odds. NCI lists smoking tobacco, long-term misuse of certain pain medicines (including over-the-counter ones), extra body weight, high blood pressure, and a family history of renal cell cancer. Inherited conditions such as von Hippel-Lindau disease and hereditary papillary renal cancer also count.
Tests that examine the abdomen and kidneys are used to diagnose renal cell cancer. NCI lists a urinalysis, a blood chemistry study, an ultrasound, a CT scan, an MRI, and a biopsy. Your doctor decides which of these you need.
If you notice any of these signs, contact your doctor soon. Go to an emergency department instead if you are passing blood clots and cannot urinate. The same goes for flank pain with a fever of 100.4 F (38 C) or higher.
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Want the full picture? Read our complete explanation: What Is Kidney Cancer? Types and Signs
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