What are the early symptoms of kidney cancer?

Written by Gong Chun
Oncology
Updated on September 26, 2024
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Many cases of kidney cancer often have no obvious symptoms in their early stages and are not discovered until the tumor progresses. After the tumor progresses, symptoms may include hematuria, which can be intermittent, painless, and visible throughout its course. There may also be back pain and a lump in the abdomen, which is evident in about twenty percent of cases. Slim individuals might find it easier to detect such lumps. There are also some extrarenal manifestations including fever, weight loss, accelerated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anemia, hypertension, polycythemia, hypercalcemia, liver function impairment, etc. These symptoms might appear in the early stages. However, symptoms can vary from person to person.

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Kidney cancer thrombus

Tumor thrombus is one of the common complications of tumors, and refers to cancer cells in blood vessels or lymphatic vessels similar to blood clots, i.e., cancer cells clustering together, invading the vessels, and causing abnormalities in blood coagulation function, leading to disorders in blood circulation and abnormal coagulation with clustered cancer cells. Generally, the risk of tumor thrombus formation is very high, and patients with tumor thrombus have much worse treatment outcomes than those without. Renal cancer is also a tumor commonly associated with tumor thrombus. Once a tumor thrombus occurs, it indicates that the surgery might be staged quite late, and thus, its treatment results are also relatively poor.

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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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What are the symptoms of kidney cancer metastasis to the lungs?

Kidney cancer tumor cells are particularly prone to metastasis, with the lungs being one of the common sites for metastases. Once lung metastasis occurs in patients with kidney cancer, numerous symptoms can appear. Typical symptoms include coughing, scanty sputum, severe irritating dry cough, palpitations, chest tightness, shortness of breath, and even chest pain, as well as coughing up blood or severe hemoptysis. Therefore, patients with lung metastases from kidney cancer who exhibit these symptoms should seek medical attention promptly and undergo a lung CT scan. Additionally, patients may experience an increase in body temperature, fevers, weight loss, dizziness, anemia, and particularly fatigue. There may also be a loss of appetite and a general feeling of weakness, which should draw the patients' attention.

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Is nephroblastoma a type of kidney cancer?

From a broad perspective, nephroblastoma belongs to kidney cancer, but its characteristics are still different. Nephroblastoma, also known as Wilms' tumor or embryonal tumor of the kidney, is the most common malignant kidney tumor in children, generally 80% of cases occur before the age of five, with an average age of about 3.5 years. The main manifestation is an abdominal mass, most often incidentally discovered by parents or doctors. Diagnosis is generally made through renal ultrasound as an initial screening, while renal CT and MRI can clearly show the extent of the tumor and the surrounding lymph nodes and organs, and whether renal blood vessels are involved. Chest X-rays or CT scans can determine if there are any lung metastases.

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Will there be metastasis after kidney cancer removal?

Currently, all malignancies tend to metastasize. Renal cancer is a common malignant tumor of the kidney in the urinary system. Generally, patients might not exhibit any symptoms in the early stages. The most common symptoms are usually back pain and hematuria, and some patients are diagnosed due to an abdominal mass. The primary treatment for renal cancer is surgical intervention, which is considered the preferred method and is believed to be potentially curative. For patients with stage I, II, III, and IV renal cancer, the survival rates decrease progressively. Patients with stage I and II renal cancer should have follow-ups every three to six months for three consecutive years after surgery, and then annually. Patients with stage III and IV renal cancer should have follow-ups every three months for two years post-treatment, then monthly in the third year, and annually thereafter. Early detection of metastasis is crucial for timely treatment. Therefore, even after nephrectomy, renal cancer might recur, and regular follow-ups are essential.