Speaking about the most common types of oncology, one can not ignore a malignant tumor of the kidneys. Over the past decade, the incidence of this disease has increased significantly. Doctors attribute this tendency to a deterioration in the overall environmental situation, constant stress and poor nutrition. How to recognize the main symptoms of kidney cancer and how many live with such a diagnosis? In order to answer these questions, you have to understand the essence of pathology.
General concepts of the disease
Kidney cancer is an oncological disease in which malignant cells appear in the tissues of the kidney. They differ from ordinary healthy cells in fast growth and uncontrolled division, which leads to the formation of a tumor.
Symptoms of kidney cancer occur in approximately 2% of the world's population. According to medical studies, such a pathology can be observed in patients of different ages, including children and the elderly. As for gender, women are somewhat less often diagnosed.
To date, cancer is not fully understood. Countries allocate a huge amount of funds for development in this area, however, none of the existing methods of therapy can give a 100% guarantee of cure.
Causes
According to the method of occurrence, kidney cancer is divided into 2 types:
- primary - a primary lesion appears in the kidney, from which a malignant tumor develops and spreads to neighboring tissues and other organs;
- secondary - cancer cells come from other organs and tissues of the body.
The reasons for the appearance of secondary cancer are quite understandable: the presence of oncology of any organ can provoke the growth of a malignant tumor in the kidney tissues.
As for the appearance of primary cancer, the doctors cannot name the exact reasons here. However, several factors have been identified that can become the impetus for the appearance of cancer cells.
- Genetic predisposition. Such a diagnosis in close relatives significantly increases the risk of oncology.
- Chronic kidney disease. Among them, a violation of the functions of the organ, in addition, it can be a long stay on dialysis (if a person has an artificial kidney).
- Some genetic diseases. Among them, it is worth highlighting Hippel's disease - Lindau.
- Mechanical injuries of the body (for example, as a result of a fall from a height).
- Frequent contact with certain chemical compounds that increase the risk of cancer of any type (organic solvents, asbestos, gasoline, cadmium and some others). Quite often, such a pathology is detected in people employed in hazardous work.
- Irradiation.
- Prolonged or uncontrolled use of powerful drugs.
- Overweight. Overweight alone does not affect oncology, however, it can cause changes in the hormonal background (this has some effect on various pathologies).
- Abuse of alcohol, tobacco, drugs. All these bad habits lead to rapid wear and tear of the body and reduce immunity.
However, it cannot be argued that one or another factor of 100% provokes the development of oncology - it only increases the risk of pathology.
It is important to note that all representatives of the strong half of humanity are at risk, since the symptoms of kidney cancer in men occur much more often.
Stages of kidney cancer
The entire period of cancer progression is usually divided into 4 stages, which are called stages. The stage must be indicated when making a diagnosis, since this allows you to choose the optimal course of treatment
1st stage. These include tumors whose dimensions do not exceed several cm, and the surrounding tissues and organs are not yet involved in the process. At this stage, treatment gives the highest possible results. It is possible to completely get rid of the disease in 80-90% of cases. The difficulty lies precisely in the fact that during this period it is quite difficult to diagnose the disease, because no symptoms of human kidney cancer bother. In most cases, oncology at the first stage is detected in patients who applied to the clinic for a completely different reason.
2 stage. To this stage, it is customary to attribute those malignant tumors of the kidneys, the sizes of which reach more than 7 cm in diameter. The first symptoms of kidney cancer are already appearing, but they still do not have a pronounced manifestation. Malignant cells are still localized within the body and do not spread to neighboring tissues.
3 stage. It is at this stage of the development of the disease that most patients seek medical help. This is explained by the fact that in the third stage of kidney cancer, symptoms begin to manifest themselves quite actively. By this time, malignant cells invade the nearest lymph nodes or circulatory system (usually these are vena cava and vena cava).
4 stage. At this stage, patient survival does not exceed 10%. This is due to the large size of the tumor, the spread of the malignant process to the lymphatic system, liver, lungs, bone marrow and other organs. Treatment takes a lot of time, but statistics show: there is hope even in this case.
Symptoms and signs of kidney cancer
Symptoms in this disease are manifested gradually. So, at stages 1 and 2 of oncology, symptoms may be completely absent. The only manifestation that may take place is discomfort in the lumbar region (kidneys). However, people do not take this symptom seriously and relieve pain with analgesics.
Characteristic symptoms of kidney cancer are added a bit later.
- Pain Discomfort becomes pronounced. The pain is characterized as aching, dull, it is increasingly difficult to stop with medicines.
- Hematuria (blood in the urine). This manifestation invariably accompanies many serious diseases, therefore, at the first signs, you should consult a doctor immediately.
- Difficult urination. The growth of the tumor may partially block the ureter, which means that the discharge of urine from the kidneys is impaired.
There are a number of non-specific signs. Symptoms of kidney cancer in women and men may be similar to signs of other diseases. The list of symptoms may include:
- signs of venous thrombosis (this is possible in case of vena cava lesion);
- Kinsburg syndrome;
- signs of anemia;
- dyspnea;
- loss of strength, increased fatigue;
- low appetite or its complete absence;
- sudden weight loss;
- signs of apathy, lethargy;
- temperature 37-38 or 38-39 degrees;
A common symptom of kidney cancer in a man is symptoms of varicocele (enlarged testicle). This can be explained by the fact that when the vena cava or renal vein is compressed, the veins of the spermatic cord expand. Doctors consider this manifestation quite serious, since it most often indicates a large tumor.
Women do not take some symptoms of kidney cancer seriously. Thus, sudden weight loss, fatigue, lack of appetite and apathy are often attributed to menopause, hormonal changes and severe stressful situations. That is why many women for a long time delay the appointment with the doctor.
In children, the course of the disease may not be quite typical. So, there may be no obvious symptoms until the last, 4 stage. After that, they appear immediately and very brightly. This greatly complicates the diagnosis and treatment.
The appearance of metastases
What are metastases? This term in medicine is called the secondary foci of the development of a cancerous tumor. They arise from those malignant cells that spread from the affected kidney.
Depending on which organs are involved in the process, the characteristic features also differ.
- Symptoms of kidney cancer with lung metastases (observed in 76% of cases) are accompanied by coughing and hemoptysis.
- In case of liver damage, one of the signs is a yellow skin tone, in addition, the patient complains of constant thirst and itching. The incidence of metastases in this organ is 41%.
- When pathological cells enter the bone tissue (43%), severe pains appear throughout the body, a sensation of aches, and pathological brittle bones.
- Brain metastases (about 11% of cases) cause numerous visual, hearing, memory, and attention disorders.
Diagnostic Methods
The effectiveness of the fight against this disease largely depends on the timeliness and correctness of the prescribed treatment. Symptoms of kidney cancer, the stage and location of the tumor, the age of the patient and the accompanying diagnoses all affect the choice of treatment methods. To get the most clear picture of the disease, the doctor prescribes several types of diagnosis.
- Ultrasound Ultrasound examination allows you to determine the current condition of the kidney and the presence of a tumor in it. In addition, ultrasound allows you to establish the size and location of the neoplasm, the presence of metastases in the nearest tissues.
- MRI and CT can provide a detailed idea of metastasis throughout the body.
- Biopsy. This procedure is a sampling of cells from tumor tissue. Assign it if there is doubt about the nature of the neoplasm.
- Scintigraphy. By this term is meant a radioisotope study of the kidneys, during which the state and performance of the organ, as well as the nature of the tumor, are revealed.
- Excretory urography. This type of diagnosis is rarely used now. It is an x-ray of the kidneys. This check can be very useful in case of organ-saving surgery, as it allows to evaluate the functional feature of the damaged organ.
- Cytoscopy. Examination of the bladder with an endoscope. This diagnosis allows you to find out the exact cause of hematuria and exclude the presence of metastases in the bladder.
- Angiography. This method involves the use of a contrast agent to determine the state of the vessels.
Surgery
It is impossible to say in advance which treatment method will be chosen in a particular case, since this depends on many features of the disease. One of the most effective methods is a surgical operation, and it can be carried out in different ways.
Kidney resection. Resection is one of the varieties of surgical operations. During it, or half of the kidney affected by the tumor is removed. This approach is only effective if the patient consulted a doctor on time and did not ignore the early symptoms of kidney cancer. In other words, the diameter of the tumor should be only a few centimeters.
Nephrectomy Under this surgical intervention is understood the complete removal of the kidney. This gives a much greater chance of getting rid of the cancerous tumor. However, such an operation is possible only under one condition: the second kidney must be completely healthy.
Chemotherapy
If a malignant tumor has already managed to give metastases, then it will be impossible to get rid of it with one operation. In this case, prescribe treatment with strong drugs. The attending physician selects these medicines, while he determines the dosage and duration of treatment.
Medicines for chemotherapy can be presented in the form of tablets and solutions for intravenous infusion. The therapy consists of several courses, between which there are breaks of several weeks.
The essence of treatment is that strong drugs destroy the structure of malignant cells, thereby blocking their growth and further division. Most often, chemotherapy courses are prescribed together with the operation.
Radiation therapy
If the patient (male or female) has kidney cancer symptoms of stage 3 or 4, radiation therapy is often prescribed. Here, ionized radiation has a detrimental effect on the tumor, which is why cancer cells lose their ability to grow and divide.
Radiotherapy (radiation therapy) is rarely used as an independent treatment method. The maximum effect can be achieved by combining radiotherapy and surgery.
It is worth noting that radiation adversely affects not only pathological, but also healthy cells. This creates certain difficulties - patients are quite difficult to tolerate such therapy due to numerous side effects.
How to eat with oncology
Proper nutrition is important even at the first symptoms of kidney cancer. Why? The fact is that with such a serious illness as oncology, the human body expends tremendous energy in the fight against the disease. And they need to be properly replenished. This is especially true for stages 3 and 4 of the disease, when a cancer patient is treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
In this case, several features must be taken into account.
- Food should be taken in small portions 5-6 times a day.
- Fluid intake should be reduced to a volume of 1 liter per day. This will help reduce the burden on the kidneys.
- The following products must be in the diet: cereals, lean meat, fish, a large number of various fruits and vegetables.
- It will be necessary to completely eliminate all junk food, namely: fried, fatty, smoked, spicy dishes, sweets, carbonated drinks.
Forecast
How long do women and men have kidney cancer symptoms? This is the question that bothers people with a similar diagnosis. It should be said that just a couple of decades ago, oncology was considered a sentence. Now everything is completely different.
If treatment was started at stage 1, the prognosis can be called quite favorable. In approximately 80% of cases, a complete cure occurs.
Proper treatment at stage 2 allows you to get rid of the disease in 65-70% of cases.
Late detection of the disease (at 3 stages) and immediately started therapy gives a chance in 40% of cases.
The least chance remains at the start of treatment at 4 stages (only 10%). However, even here one must not despair, but continue the struggle. As medicine has proved, the patient’s mood and optimism play an important role in the treatment of serious diseases such as cancer (of any kind).
Is it possible to protect yourself from a kidney tumor?
Doctors agree: it’s much easier to prevent any disease than to treat it later. However, when it comes to oncology, then everything is not so simple. The main problem lies precisely in the fact that doctors do not know the exact causes of this pathology.
All that doctors can advise to reduce the risk is to reduce the number of harmful effects on the body. This is a rejection of bad habits, and a change of place of work in the event of harmful production, and proper nutrition and the use of medicines exclusively under the supervision of a doctor.
However, the most important rule is a regular physical examination. Of course, with the help of blood and urine tests, it will not be possible to identify oncology, however, certain overestimated indicators will require additional research.