Kidney cancer

About 90% of kidney tumors are malignant. In the global structure of malignant diseases, kidney cancer accounts for about 2 %. The most common form of kidney cancer in adults is renal cell carcinoma of the light cell type.

Who is at risk?
The overall risk of kidney cell cancer increases with age. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 61 years. Kidney tumors in men are 1.5-2 times more common than in women. 

Fairly reliable risk factors for kidney cancer are:

• Smoking. 
• Overweight. 
• Long-term hemodialysis, 
• Factors of the production environment (working with asbestos, cadmium, etc.)
• Arterial hypertension, 
• The presence of a first-degree relative with kidney cancer, some genetic disorders (von Hippel–Lindau - VHL syndrome, hereditary papillary kidney cancer, hereditary leiomyomatosis in combination with RCC and Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome).

Clinical symptoms.
About 50% of all cases of kidney cancer are detected in asymptomatic patients accidentally during imaging studies (ultrasound, CT, MRI, etc.) or when they are performed for other reasons. The classical triad (pain in the side, blood excretion in the urine, and palpable formation in the abdominal cavity) is currently rare and is usually associated with aggressive histology and/or late-stage disease.
Unexplained weight loss and lack of appetite, general weakness and fatigue, sweating, fever, decreased hemoglobin levels, or accelerated ESR in the blood test-any of these symptoms may indicate a serious illness and require immediate medical attention.

Diagnosis of kidney cancer.
At the moment, there are no reliably specific tumor markers in the blood or urine that would allow a diagnosis of kidney cancer without the use of instrumental methods. 
The main methods of diagnosing kidney cancer are imaging. Ultrasound examination (ultrasound) with color Doppler mapping (CDK) has up to 75% efficiency, allows you to differentiate tumor masses from cystic formations. However, any kidney neoplasm detected by ultrasound should be confirmed by a second imaging method. As a rule, multispiral computed tomography (CT or MSCT) with intravenous contrast enhancement is used. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is performed in doubtful cases, or if there are contraindications for CT with contrast. MSCT or MRI can answer a number of important questions: the exact size of the tumor, the degree of accumulation of the contrast agent (which is important in the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant kidney tumors), the spread of the tumor to neighboring organs, tissues and vessels, the state of the lymph nodes, the presence of distant metastases.

Treatment.
The choice of treatment tactics depends on various factors, including the general state of health of the patient, his age, and the stage of the disease. 
Surgical treatment, which consists in removing the tumor – is the standard treatment for kidney cancer and the only truly radical way to get rid of the patient from cancer, especially at an early stage of the disease. Currently, laparoscopic or robotic techniques are preferred. The presence of the Da Vinci Si robotic system in the MCSC allows performing the most complex kidney resections, expanding the relative indications for organ-preserving treatment of kidney cancer and thereby prolonging the life of patients.

Do not delay your visit to the specialists of our center. This will help to diagnose the disease in a timely manner and choose the right treatment tactics. Doctors of the Department of Urology of the Moscow State Medical Center named after A. S. Loginov are always ready to help you.