Symptoms of kidney cancer can be hard to pinpoint because they are similar to other medical problems, including urinary tract infections, kidney stones, or blood in the urine. If you have recently started experiencing any of these symptoms, it is important to see your doctor and get a diagnosis. You may also want to find a support group or social worker to help you with your treatment.
Kidney cancer symptoms include high blood pressure, fatigue, and frequent tiredness. In the early stages of kidney cancer, these symptoms are not severe. However, they can cause complications if left untreated. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms, it is important that you see your doctor as soon as possible. Your doctor can use various tests to diagnose kidney cancer and determine its stage and grade.
During an imaging test, your doctor may detect a lump in your abdomen. If the lump is bigger than 7 cm, it could be a kidney tumor. This mass can also appear as a hard thickening bump under your skin. If your doctor feels this lump, he or she may order additional testing to determine the cause. If the mass is cancerous, a biopsy will be performed to determine its severity.
Kidney cancer symptoms may also include a decreased appetite or loss of weight. This could be due to changes in hormones, or it may be a sign of the tumor spreading to the gastrointestinal tract. A loss of appetite can also be a sign of anemia.
A lump in the kidney can also feel painful or it may not feel at all. Your doctor can examine this mass under a microscope to determine whether it is cancerous. He or she may also order blood tests to check for anemia. This is important because a lack of red blood cells can cause fatigue. The lack of red blood cells can also prevent the kidneys from functioning properly. If the cancer is causing these symptoms, your doctor can treat it through chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy, or radiation therapy.
Other kidney cancer symptoms include blood in the urine, high temperature, and sweats. These symptoms can be caused by infections, high blood pressure, and other conditions. However, kidney cancer is more likely to cause these symptoms in people over 40 years of age.
Kidney cancer can spread to nearby bones or lymph nodes. This can make treatment more difficult, but it is possible. In some cases, the cancer can be removed completely with a radical nephrectomy. If the cancer is confined to the kidney, your doctor may use a radiofrequency ablation to destroy the cancer cells. The tumor may also be removed with a fine needle aspiration biopsy, which involves removing a small sample of tissue. If the tumor is larger, the doctor may use arterial embolization, which involves a small incision and a catheter inserted into the main blood vessel flowing to the kidney.
If you have recently started experiencing any of these kidney cancer symptoms, it is important that you see your physician as soon as possible. You may also want to find a social worker or a counselor to help you with your treatment.