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  1. Basics
  2. Symptoms
  3. Diagnosis
  4. Treatment
  5. Prevention
  6. Knowledge Center

Our Approach

Method of delivering personalized care for kidney cancer can make a crucial difference in your outcome and recovery. In the Genitourinary Cancer Center, you are the focus of a team of experts who specialize in kidney cancer and strive to provide the most-advanced treatment with the least impact on your body.

Working together, this team of surgical and medical oncologists, as well as a specially trained support staff, utilizes the latest leading-edge technology and techniques from diagnosis through treatment. Your kidney cancer treatment options may include:

  • Kidney-sparing surgery
  • Laparoscopic and robotic surgery
  • Targeted therapies including Sutent® (sunitinib) Nexavar® (sorafenib) Torisel® (temsirolimus) and Avastin® (bevacizumab)
  • Immunotherapy, including interferon and interleukin-2
  • Cryoablation, radiofrequency ablation and active surveillance

You're surrounded by the strength of one of the nation's largest and most experienced comprehensive cancer centers, which has all the support and wellness services needed to treat the whole person – not just the disease.

Experience Matters

While the American Urological Association estimates the average urologist sees six cancer and non-cancer kidney tumor cases a year, MD Anderson treats more than 700 kidney cancer patients annually. This gives us an extraordinary level of expertise and experience that can make a vital difference in the success of your treatment and recovery.

You benefit from one of the most active kidney cancer research programs in the United States. This means we are able to offer a wide range of clinical trials (research studies) for new treatments for most types and stages of kidney cancer.

Due to the location of the kidneys, many people with kidney cancer don't have symptoms until the tumor has grown quite large. If there are symptoms, they vary from person to person.

The most common kidney cancer symptom is blood in the urine (hematuria), but hematuria can be caused by a variety of conditions so it doesn't necessarily mean you have cancer.

Other kidney cancer symptoms may include:

  • A lump or mass on the side or lower back
  • Unexplained fever for a few weeks
  • Rapid weight loss
  • Lingering dull ache or pain in the side, abdomen or lower back
  • Feeling fatigued or in poor health
  • Swelling of ankles and legs

These symptoms do not always mean you have kidney cancer and may be caused by other conditions. However, it is important to discuss any symptoms with your doctor, since they may signal other health problems.

Our experts specialize in kidney cancer and use the very latest technology to pinpoint the exact extent and location of each kidney cancer tumor.

If you have been diagnosed with a kidney tumor or kidney cancer, it's important to be treated as early as possible. This helps improve your chances for successful treatment. Most tumors of the kidney are malignant (cancer), but some are benign (not cancer). There is no imaging test that can tell if a kidney tumor is benign or cancerous.

Kidney Cancer Diagnosis

If you have symptoms that may signal kidney cancer, your doctor will ask you questions about your health; your lifestyle, including smoking and drinking habits; and your family medical history.

One or more of the following tests may be used to find out if you have kidney cancer and if it has spread. These tests also may be used to find out if treatment is working.

Blood and urine tests

Imaging tests, which may include:

  • CT or CAT (computed axial tomography) scans
  • MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans
  • Ultrasound
  • Chest X-Ray
  • Bone Scan

Biopsy and fine needle aspiration (FNA) are sometimes used to obtain a biopsy of the kidney. This involves the insertion of a long, thin needle into the kidney to take a tiny sample of tissue for examination under a microscope. With modern biopsy methods, there is virtually no risk of ‘spreading cancer.' Our team of radiologists is highly experienced in safe biopsy methods.

Our Treatment Approach

Your kidney cancer treatment is personalized to include the most-advanced therapies with the fewest possible side effects. Our experts work together – and with you – to give you the highest chance for successful treatment and recovery.

While the average oncologist probably sees fewer than 10 kidney cancer cases each year, doctors see several hundred. This gives us an extraordinary level of experience and expertise.

Experience is Vital

This level of knowledge is especially important in kidney cancer surgery. Because it is important to save as much of the kidney as possible, the specialized skill of the surgeon can make a crucial difference. Our surgeons are among the most experienced in the country at kidney cancer surgical procedures.

Pioneering Research

We're leading the way to discovering ground breaking treatments that fight kidney cancer at the molecular level. Our researchers helped develop several targeted therapies for kidney cancer, including sunitinib and sorafenib.

Kidney Cancer Screening

Cancer screening exams are important medical tests done when you're at risk but don't have symptoms. They help find cancer at its earliest stage, when the chances for successful treatment are best.

Unfortunately, no standardized screening tests have been shown to improve kidney cancer outcomes.

Kidney Cancer Risk Factors

Anything that increases your chance of getting kidney cancer is called a risk factor. The biggest risk for kidney cancer is smoking.

Other kidney cancer risk factors include:

  • Age: Most cases occur after age 50
  • Gender: Men are more than twice as likely to get kidney cancer as women
  • Obesity
  • High blood pressure
  • Exposure to asbestos, cadmium, and coke (used in making steel), benzene, herbicides and organic solvents
  • Advanced kidney disease and long-term kidney dialysis
  • Race: African-Americans have a slightly higher rate of kidney cancer
  • Rare inherited conditions including von Hippel-Lindau disease or hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma
  • Family history of kidney disease

Not everyone with risk factors gets kidney cancer. However, if you have risk factors, it's a good idea to discuss them with your doctor.

You're surrounded by the strength of one of the nation's largest and most experienced comprehensive cancer centers, which has all the support and wellness services needed to treat the whole person – not just the disease.

Contact Us

TATA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Dr. E Borges Road, Parel, Mumbai - 400 012 India
Phone: +91-22- 24177000, 24177300, 24161413
Fax: +91-22-24146937
E-mail : msoffice@tmc.gov.in(for patient care and queries)/cash@tmc.gov.in(for accounts related)/fundraising@tmc.gov.in (for donors and donation related)/registrar@tmc.gov.in(for education and training)/hrd@tmc.gov.in(for administrative - HRD matters) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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