Renal Cancer - Its Stages, Surgical Treatment Options & Prognosis!

What are renal cancers?

Renal cancers, or cancers of the kidney, are formed when the cells of the kidneys undergo uncontrolled division, leading to the formations of tumours in the kidney that turn cancerous. These cancers are of several types and are commonly detected first attached to the material that lines the kidney tubules. This common type is called renal cell carcinoma. The early detection makes this cancer easier to treat than several other types of cancers of different body parts.

Following factors predispose you to higher chances of renal cancers-

• Smoking
• Your gender being male
• You having the medical condition called lymphoma
• A family history of kidney cancers
• Using specific varieties of painkillers for chronic conditions
• Having severe kidney disease for prolonged periods

Prognosis of kidney cancer: how does the disease take root in and travel through your body?

Kidney cancer, like all other cancers, progresses in stages in your body. This is what happens in each individual stage-

Stage I: an outgrowth is present in only the kidney, whose maximum size may be 7 cm.
Stage II: the formation of a growth larger than 7 cm inside only the kidney.
Stage III: the formation of a growth that extends beyond the kidney. It may affect surrounding lymph nodes, the kidney’s primary blood vessels, and surrounding fatty tissue.
Stage IV: the cancerous growths spread to other body parts, and stretch beyond surrounding lymph nodes and fatty tissues to infect those at a greater distance.

Surgical Treatment: How can you get operated upon to bring your kidney cancer under control?

While you can try to cure kidney cancer in several ways, like radiation therapy and chemotherapy, surgery is the one method that is preferred over the other options. Surgery can be used to treat kidney cancer that has spread to other body parts as well, and it can help fix indirect symptoms of kidney cancer like pain and bleeding.

Following are the types of surgery you can avail-

• Natural radical nephrectomy - This process involves the complete removal of the kidney, with surrounding fatty tissues, lymph nodes and in some cases even the adrenal gland. Then, the other healthy remaining kidney takes over the function of both. This involves making a large single cut on the abdomen surface, or near the ribs, on the same side as the affected kidney.

• Laparoscopic radical nephrectomy - This also involves cutting out the entire affected kidney, but by making several small cuts in different places than one large cut. This process is considered safer and is now in greater use.

• Partial nephrectomy - This refers to the partial removal of the kidney, leaving the healthy parts behind. This needs a surgeon with a very practised hand, as the surgery may easily go wrong. This cannot be done successfully if the cancerous growth is towards the interior or body-middle of the kidney, or if it is very large.

Renal cancer refers to cancer of the kidney, which can be detected early and is, therefore, easier to treat. It is one of the few types of cancers whose existence can be confirmed without a biopsy needing to be done. If detected, surgery is the most effective way to treat this cancer.