What is Kidney Cancer?
Each person has got a pair of kidneys located posteriorly on the lower side of the abdomen. The kidney purifies blood for nutrients and discharges urine.
Like all the other cancers, when the healthy kidney cells start to behave abnormally and grow out of proportion, accumulating to form a tumor, it is known as kidney cancer. As the kidney is a confined organ, the cancers here are detected early before metastasis happens to nearby organs.
What are the causes of Kidney Cancer?
Similar to the other cancers the cause is unknown but certain risk factors have known to be associated
How kidney cancer does present?
Once detected through a physical exam, urine tests, blood examination, Intravenous pyelogram, USG, CT, MRI, and Renal arteriogram whichever is required, a proper treatment regimen is documented for attending.
Now getting on to our actual question, what is the Survival Rate of Kidney Cancer Patients?
The survival rate in a kidney patient depends on which stage of cancer is identified. This include
According to the American Cancer Society, numbers or letters after T, N, and M provide more details about each of these factors. Higher numbers mean the cancer is more advanced. Once a person’s T, N, and M categories have been determined, usually, after surgery, this information is combined in a process called stage grouping to assign an overall stage.
The earliest stage cancers are called stage 0 (confined), and then range from stages I (1) through IV (4), one being lowest and 4 being the most advanced cancer. Some of the stages have sub-stages with the letters A, B, and C. The letter X means “cannot be assessed because the information is not available.” Here larger the number more cancer has spread.
Apart from its stage some other factors too define survival rates of kidney cancer patients.
These include:
More is the existence of the above factors progressively worsens the prognosis and adversely affects the survival rate. Usually from the time the cancer is diagnosed the survival rate is 5 years.
5-year relative survival rates for kidney cancer as compared to the normal population of the same age are:
Stage | The 5-year relative survival rate |
Localized | 93% |
Regional | 69% |
Distant | 12% |
All stages combined | 75% |
The above rates show that with technological advancements in this field, kidney cancer can be treated to 100% at almost all stages. There is surgery, cry therapy, radiofrequency ablation, arterial embolization, biologic therapy, targeted therapy, radiation, and chemotherapy all of which make sure that the patient survives the pathology. It is important to look for early signs to detect kidney cancer, which will prevent its spread and improve the survival rate. The writer tries to defines just not what the survival rates are but how early detection, staging, and certain other factors contribute to an excellent survival rate.
Dr. Sudeep Singh Sachdev, Consultant – Nephrology, Kidney Transplant – Adult | Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, Gurugram
Common Memory Problems You walk into a room, and stand there, suddenly feeling empty, your…
What is Guillain Barre syndrome? Guillain Barre syndrome is a rare serious condition that affects…
बच्चेदानी के मुंह का कैंसर महिलाओं में होने वाले कैंसर में दूसरे स्थान पर आता…
Regular cervical screening can prevent about seven or eight out of every 10 cervical cancers…
What is Bell's Palsy? Bell's palsy is also known as acute peripheral facial palsy of…
What is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis? “Amyotrophic’ means “without nourishment to the muscles”, and comes from…