Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancer is a serious disease that occurs when cancerous cells first form in the kidneys. Types of kidney cancer include renal cell carcinoma, renal pelvis carcinoma, and Wilms' tumor. Risk factors for the disease include such things as smoking, being obese, and having high blood pressure. Common symptoms of kidney cancer can include blood in the urine, weight loss, and pain in the side that does not go away. Treatment options for kidney cancer may include surgery, arterial embolization, radiation therapy, biological therapy, chemotherapy, or a combination of treatments.
Kidney Cancer: An Introduction
Kidney cancer is a disease in which cancerous cells first form in the tissues of the kidneys. There are several types of kidney cancer, including:
- Renal cell carcinoma (cancer that forms in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney that filter the blood and remove waste products).
- Renal pelvis carcinoma (cancer that forms in the center of the kidney where urine collects).
- Wilms' tumor, which usually develops in children under the age of five.
Renal cell carcinoma is the most common type of kidney cancer and is the focus of this series of articles. For purposes of this article, we will use the term "kidney cancer" to refer to renal cell carcinoma (also known as renal cell cancer).
(Click Kidney Cancer Types for more information about the other types of kidney cancer.)
Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
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