Every year, nearly 8,500 people are diagnosed with kidney cancer and more than 3,500 people die from the disease. It is one of the most common types of cancer in the country but how easy is it to spot the symptoms?
It is easier to treat when caught early
As with so many cancers and diseases, kidney cancer is much easier to treat if it is caught early. When the cancer is allowed to grow, it is much harder to perform an operation to remove the tumour and you run the risk of losing some or all of the infected kidney.
Equally, if the cancer goes untreated then it may metastasise, meaning that it spreads to other parts of the body. When this happens, the cancer becomes a lot harder to treat.
Spotting kidney cancer early
The difficulty with kidney cancer is that there are often no obvious symptoms at first and it is possible that the cancer will only be picked up during tests that are carried out for another reason. That was the case with Ninel, a patient who was treated by a surgeon who was trained by The Urology Foundation.
It may not always be easy to spot kidney cancer, but there are some symptoms that you should keep an eye out for.
The most important symptom to be aware of is blood in your pee. If you ever spot blood in your pee, you need to speak to a doctor right away as it could be a symptom not only of kidney cancer, but of prostate and bladder cancer, as well. Often blood in your pee is a false alarm, but it is always better to be safe than sorry, so make sure you get checked out by your GP.
There are a few other physical symptoms to look out for, such as a lump in your belly or a dull ache in your side. You might also experience painful spasms in your belly or groin that are a result of blood blots forming.
Make sure you also keep an eye out for a persistent high fever, high blood pressure, and unexplained weight loss. Each of those could be an indicator of kidney cancer.
Don’t take a risk: see your GP
If you ever notice the above symptoms, you should see your GP right away. The chances are that it is nothing, but it is much better to be safe than sorry. Because kidney cancer is much easier to treat when it’s caught early, it is worth getting checked out at the earliest possible opportunity.
If you’d like to know more about kidney cancer, take a look at our Urology Health Pages.
The Urology Foundation
The Urology Foundation is committed to transforming the lives of people with a urology condition through ground-breaking research, training and education. The money we raise is invested directly into research to find better treatments and cures, and in educational training for urology professionals to care for and help people affected by urology conditions. Working with researchers, urology and health care professionals we are improving the nation’s urology care. We are dedicated to beating all urology diseases through cutting-edge research and leading education and training to ensure that fewer lives will be devastated.
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With such an easy indicator to see, its so important to always get abnormalities checked out. Do not hesitate to see your GP.
Kind regards
on February 7, 2019 at 1:38 pm talkhealthtalkhealth