All You need to Know about Kidney Cancer

1. All You need to Know about Kidney All You need to Know about Kidney Cancer Cancer Kidney cancer most often starts in the kidneys. It appears when the healthy cells turn into cancerous and grow out of control to form a lump (called a tumor). There are many types of kidney cancer. Some types spread rapidly and others take time in order to spread. The most common kidney cancers are as follows: RCC (Renal Cell Carcinoma): It is often the most common sort of kidney cancer in adults. Transitional cell carcinoma: This is the second most common type of kidney cancer in adults. Wilms Tumor: This kidney cancer is usually found in the children. Signs and symptoms of Kidney Cancer: In the initial stages, most people usually don’t experience any signs or symptoms. Apart from this, as the existing tumor spreads, you may experience: •Fever •Fatigue •Night sweats •Blood in the urine •Pain in the lower back •Unexplained weight loss •A lump in the lower back •Lump in the side of the waist What are the risk factors for kidney cancer? In all the forms of cancer, the formation of a tumour is triggered by the abnormal changes (mutations) in the particular genes within the cells of the body. Following are the certain risk factors which are responsible to develop kidney cancer: Age and gender: tumours in the kidney are most common in people over 60, and more common in men than women.

2. Lifestyle factors: the major risk factors are being overweight or obese and cigarette smoking. Cigarettes mainly contain chemicals (carcinogens) that have potential to damage the genes of kidney cells. Several medical conditions as well as treatments: This include cystic kidney disease, dialysis, high blood pressure, renal stones, previous radiotherapy, long-term use of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicines, and hepatitis C infection may be responsible for increasing the of development of kidney cancer Inherited conditions: These include VHL syndrome (von Hippel-Lindau), Birt-Hogg- Dubé syndrome, tuberous sclerosis and hereditary papillary RCC (HPRCC), or a family history of kidney cancer. How is kidney cancer diagnosed? The maximum kidney cancers are detected just by chance. Often they are detected when you see a healthcare provider about any other problem. Your healthcare professional may perform several tests as well as procedures in order to make a diagnosis. The few that you may expect: •Physical exam and medical history •Blood tests •A blood chemistry •Complete blood count (CBC) •Urine tests – to check for infection, blood and protein in your urine •Kidney function tests •Ultrasound exam •CT scan and MRI •Chest X-ray •Bone scan •Biopsy Staging kidney cancers: Staging is indicates to describe how big a cancer is and how far it has already spread. The common system used for staging tumours, named TNM system. The number system is used for kidney cancer is as follows;

3. Stage 1: In this stage the cancer is confined to your kidney and the size is less than 7cm. Stage 2: In stage 2, the cancer is bigger than the 7cm but still confined to your kidney. Stage 3: In this stage your cancer has started to spread outside your kidney. Stage 4: In stage 4 your tumour has either spread to surrounding organs or to other parts of the body further away. Treatment of Kidney Cancer: Once kidney cancer is diagnosed, the tumor is assigned a stage and grade. Treatment options mainly depend upon the stage as well as grade of the cancer. Your age and general health is also involved in order to determine your treatment plan. Your healthcare provider may recommend below mentioned ways in order to treat kidney cancer: Surgery: This treatment method includes certain options ranging from the removal of the only cancerous part of the kidney and some surrounding normal tissue to removal of the kidney and surrounding parts or areas where your tumor has spread. Chemotherapy: Chemotherapy basically uses anti-cancer or cytotoxic medicines in order to destroy the cancer cells. The medicines usually be recommended as tablets or, more likely, by injection into a vein. The chemo isn’t often used for kidney cancer, because the biological therapies are comparatively more effective. However, you may be recommended chemotherapy as part of a clinical trial of new medications or together with the biological therapy. Different sorts of kidney cancer respond to the different treatments; chemo is used less often for renal cell cancer than transitional cell cancer. Some chemo drugs, such as mitomycin 40 mg, cisplatin, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), and gemcitabine have been shown to help a small number of patients. Targeted therapy: This treatment is effective in order to attack the specific features of the cancer cells in order to stop the cancer growing as well as spreading. The small

4. molecule inhibitors are the most frequently recommended therapy in order to treat advanced kidney cancer. Maximum small molecule inhibitors come in the form of tablets that you consume at home. The two major sorts of small molecule inhibitors recommended for the advanced kidney cancer are: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs): TKIs help to block the enzymes group known as tyrosine kinases from forwarding signals that indicate cancer cells to grow. Without this signal, the cancerous cells die. The main TKIs used are sunitinib, pazopanib, cabozantinib, sorafenib 200 mg and axitinib. mTOR inhibitors: These medicines helps in order to block an enzyme that indicates cancer cells to grow and spread. Everolimus 10 mg is an mTOR inhibitor approved for use for some types of advanced kidney cancer that have not responded to TKIs. The everolimus together with lenvatinib 10 mg is also approved for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma after the anti-angiogenic therapy. Combination of everolimus and lenvatinib 4 mg was approved in May 2016, by US FDA. Radiation therapy: Radiation therapy mainly uses the controlled doses of the radiation, such as focused beams of x-ray, in order to kill or damage the cancer cells. It is also known as radiotherapy. Radiation therapy can be recommended in advanced kidney cancer in order to shrink your tumour as well as relieve your symptoms. Immunotherapy: Immunotherapy is a sort of cancer medication treatment that focuses mainly on using the body’s own immune system in order to fight cancer. Some cancerous cells are involved for creating barriers known as checkpoints to block the immune system. Drugs known as checkpoint inhibitors effects in order make the cancer cells visible to the body’s own immune system. After the removal of barriers, the immune system is able to recognise as well as destroy the cancer. Palliative treatment: In a few advanced kidney cancer cases, your medical team may talk to you about the palliative treatment. Palliative treatment is effective in order to

5. improve people’s quality of life by managing the signs and symptoms of the cancer without trying to cure the disease. Source:- https://theindianpharma.wordpress.com/2020/10/20/kidney-cancer-and-its- treatment/