KIDNEY CANCER TREATMENT INFORMATION

Where are the Kidneys Located?

People normally have 2 kidneys which are located below the ribcage at the level of the 2nd and 3rd lumbar vertebrae, in the "small of the back" region. The fight kidney is usually a little lower than the left one, since the right one is pushed down by the liver. The kidneys are "bean shaped" (hence "kidney bean") and the urine produced by each kidney is collected in a hollow area within the kidney called the "renal pelvis". From the renal pelvis, the urine drains through the "ureters" which are tubes vach conduct the urine into the bladder. These structures are called the "collecting system" of the kidney. Each kidney is fed blood by a "renal artery"' and drained off by a "renal vein". The renal arteries come off the the "aorta", which arises from the heart and supplies the whole lower body with blood. The renal veins drain into Inferior vena cava, which then returns the blood to the heart.

There are small glands on the top of each kidney called the "adrenal gland". Each kidney and adrenal gland is surrounded by fat, called the "perinephric fat". The fat is then surrounded by a tough fibrous membrane, called "Gerotals Facia". This is important since the behavior of kidney cancers can often be gauged by whether they have invaded the perinephric fat or Gerota's Facia. Furthermore, like all major organs the kidneys have surrounding "lymph nodes", which are small bean-sized glands that filter the blood as part of the immune system. The outcome of kidney cancer also depends on whether these lymph nodes have been invaded by the disease, as will be seen.

What Do the Kidneys Do?

Obviously, the main function of the kidneys is to detoxify the blood; the toxins are diluted with water and then excreted out as "urine". Urine gets is name from "urea", which is a form of ammonia caused by the body's breakdown of protien; urea gives urine its characteristic smell. If this urea was not urinated out (such as will happen when the kidneys fail) it will build up in the bloodstream, causing "uremia". The symptoms of uremia are worsening fatigue which eventually lapses into a coma and causes death. Thus the excretion of urine is necessary for life.

While kidney failure used to always be fatal, machines than artificially do the kidneys work (called "dialysis filters") can now prolong life from many years in patients with kidney failure- but is is not as good as a real kidney. Dialysis takes a lot of time, is very expensive, and is prone to problems of infection and chemical imbalances in the blood. Some patients will get transplanted kidneys, (called "renal transplant") which eliminates the need for dialysis, if the transplanted kidney "takes" and is not rejected. Therefore, kidney failure today is often a treatable condition.

Besides for making urine, the kidneys control much of the chemical balance of the blood, and the amount of water it contains. Specifically, the kidneys monitor and control the acidity or "acid-base" (pH) balance of the blood. If the blood is too acidic, the kidney makes bicarbonate to restore the bloods pH balance. If the blood is to alkaline, then the kidney excretes bicarbonate into the urine to restore the balance. The kidney also filters out drugs into the urine, and senses the blood pressure to adjust the amount of water being urinated out. The adrenal glands on top of the kidney make hormones contolling sugar and fat metabolism. You can see that the kidney is a complex organ!

What is Kidney Cancer?

Normally, in an adult kidney cells divide rarely, to replace those lost to old age and injury, The division and growth of these cells is under tight control by the genes inside the cells. Kidney cancer starts when control of this division is lost, and so a cell starts to divide "out of control". Kidney cancer starts in just one cell. A change occurs in the genes of this cell which screws up its controls that prevent haphazard division, and it starts dividing like crazy, forming a tumor. A tumor simply means a swelling and is not necessarily cancerous. When the cells in the tumor just grow in their local area, and do not spread elsewhere, then the tumor is benign. However, when the tumor's cells have the ability to spread elsewhere in the body, this is a malignant (cancerous) tumor. A malignant tumor can metastasize (spread) to any area of the body, cause symptoms there, and eventually kill the patient.

How Common is Kidney Cancer?

Each year in the U.S.A. there are 30,600 new cases of kidney cancer leading to 10,000 deaths from the disease. It represents about 2% of all new cancers and cancer related deaths. The average age at diagnosis is 60 years old, and men get kidney cancers twice as commonly as women. The number of cases diagnosed has risen slightly as better imaging techniques detect them more accurately. Sometimes the cancer is missed altogether, and only found incidently when an autopsy is done. About 1% of elderly patients will have some kidney cancer found at autopsy for some other condition, but the cancer never caused them problems in their lifetime. When a tumor is found in the kidney on an imaging scan (such as a CT scan), it has about a 60% chance of being cancerous. The remainder are benign tumors which may cause local symptoms, but will very seldom prove fatal.

Cancer from other areas of the body, particularly lung, can spread to the kidney or adrenal gland. Therefore, finding a cancer in the kidney does not prove that it originated there. About 25% of patients with lung cancer will have eventual spread of it to the adrenal glands overlying the kidneys. Likewise, kidney cancer can spread to other organs, and the kidney may not be recognized as the site where the cancer began.

What Causes or Increases the Risk for Kidney Cancer?

Like any cancer, the exact reason why one person gets kidney cancer and another does not is unknown. However, several factors have been noted which increase the risk for getting it.

The kidney is the blood chemistry and urine producing organ necessary for life. It detoxifies the blood. Besides maintaining the body's water level, it regulates the blood pressure. You can see that the kidney is essential for the maintaining the bodies basic chemical functions. The kidneys are very resilient, but when they fail they can lead to rapid demise of the patient. It has been said, "as go the kidneys, so goes the patient." It is critical to get proper diagnosis and treatment for a kidney cancer problem, this can literally make the difference between life and death. Understanding your options with kidney cancer will give you the peace of mind knowing that you have done everything possible for a successful outcome for yourself or a loved one.
Those individuals that are more at risk for kidney cancer would benefit from getting serious medical advice from a physician. Those mysterious symptoms may be a sign of something very serious, such as cancer.
CancerAnswers's material explains, in plain English, the definition, types, frequency, symptoms, evaluations, historical and latest treatments for kidney cancer. We describe surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and immune treatments and tell you their results. While we don't promise a cure, we tell you everything you need to know to make the right choices today to deal with a kidney cancer problem.
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