Kidney Cancer

KIDNEY CANCER

Dr. Herman and Dr. Kester top South Florida urologists, serving the Fort Lauderdale, Miami and Palm Beach areas, specialize in the Diagnosis and Treatment of KIDNEY CANCER
Our In-Office Diagnostic Tools include: • ULTRASOUND • CYSTOSCOPY • BIOPSY
Call us immediately to schedule an appointment - Early Diagnosis Saves Lives.

Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist. They’re located behind your abdominal organs, one on each side of your spine. Their primary role is to help maintain the body in a state of balance by controlling the make-up and volume of blood. They do this by removing excess fluid and electrolytes from your blood. The kidney also control the production of red blood cells, and regulats your blood pressure. Inside each kidney are more than a million small filtering units called nephrons. As blood circulates through your kidneys, the nephrons filter out waste products as well as unneeded minerals and water. This liquid waste — urine — flows through two narrow tubes (ureters) into your bladder, where it’s stored until it’s eliminated from your body through another tube, the urethra. Like other major organs in the body, the kidneys can sometimes develop cancer.

TYPES OF KIDNEY CANCER

The most common types of kidney cancer include:

• Renal cell carcinoma. In adults, the most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, which begins in the cells that line the small tubes of each nephron within your kidneys. In most cases, renal cell tumors grow as a single mass, but one can also have more than one tumor in a kidney or develop tumors in both kidneys.
• Transitional cell carcinoma. This type of kidney cancer develops in the cells of the collecting system of the kidneys. The collecting system is where the urine collects before it is funneled into tubes called ureters. The ureters conduct the urine from the kidneys to the bladder and their cells can also form transitional cell carcinoma.
• Wilms’ tumor. Wilms’ tumor is a type of kidney cancer that occurs in young children.

The American Cancer Society estimates that almost 51,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year. The incidence of kidney cancer seems to be increasing, though it isn’t clear why. Many kidney cancers occur without warning and are detected only incidentally during examinations and procedures looking for diseases or conditions in other organs. Imaging techniques, such as computerized tomography (CT), are being used more often, which may help find more kidney cancers.

SYMPTOMS

Kidney cancer may not cause signs or symptoms in its early stages. However, when symptoms occur there may be:

• Blood in your urine, which may appear pink, red or cola-colored
• Back pain just below the ribs that doesn’t go away
• Weight loss
• Fatigue
• Intermittent fever

Just what causes kidney cells to become cancerous isn’t clear. But researchers have identified certain factors that appear to increase the risk of kidney cancer.

Call us immediately to schedule an appointment with Dr. Herman or Dr. Kester for the relief you deserve.

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