Is Kidney Cancer Curable? Here’s What You Should Know
Is kidney cancer curable?
Kidney cancer is cancer that occurs in the kidney. Kidneys appear as a shape of bean each of which are located on either side of the spine and are approximately the size of your fist. They can be found located behind your abdominal organs. One of the most usual types of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma along with some of the other types of kidney cancer. Young children develop a type of kidney cancer known as Wilms tumour. Nowadays, the incidence of kidney cancer is increasing day by day and one of the main reasons behind it is the advent of technologies that can capture and diagnose the disease at an early stage. These imaging techniques are known as computerized tomography scans which are being used frequently. These tests are leading to the discovery of cancer cells in the kidney.
Kidney cancer when discovered at a very early stage is easily curable but when not removed they can easily interfere with other organ functions and spread to other tissues as well as organs. Earlier the detection easier is its cure. Now also in an advanced stage, some of the new therapies as well as processes have helped in increasing the cure rates.
What is the best treatment for kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer treatment success rate depends upon the survival rate of the patients and type of treatment. Undergoing kidney cancer treatment in Delhi under a best nephrologist can help you with higher success of your treatment. The kind of surgery is based on whether the cancer is found in one kidney or two kidneys along with the size of the tumour. If surgery is not the option for treatment then your doctor might recommend for several other options like:
- Treatment for killing the cancer cells by freezing them.
- Treatment to kill the cancer cells by giving them heat treatment.
- Medicines that strengthen your immune system for fighting off the cancer cell.
- Medicine that helps in preventing cancer from surviving and growing.
- Treatment to kill the cancer cells by the use of radiation.
How long do you have to live if you have kidney cancer?
Persons suffering from kidney cancer have a 5-year survival rate which conveys that they can survive for at least 5 years after diagnosis. This survival rate for people with kidney cancer is about 75%. Some of the statistics show that people suffering from kidney cancer had below-given chances of survival for at least 5 years.
Localized-93%, Regional-69% and distant -12%. In whole for all kinds of stages it’s 75%. But at present with medical advances, the chances of survival for more than 5 years is also increasing although the risk varies between individuals and several factors might affect it. But quicker a person’s diagnosis and initiates treatment better is the survival rate.
Does kidney cancer spread quickly?
Like different types of cancer, there are various factors that determine how rapidly kidney cancer can spread. Age, health and the kind of kidney cancer all have a major contribution in deciding how fast cancer will spread. Moreover, the pattern of spread of the cancer cell also depends on how much aggressive the cells are. Renal cell carcinoma is one of the most common types of kidney cancer that possesses varied subtypes within it. Usually, there are two subtypes called sarcomatoid and rhabdoid that spread very rapidly and can cause havoc inside your body. Some of the other types of kidney cancer are papillary, oncocytic, chromophobe and medullary. Some of the low grades kidney cancer is usually very slow-growing and high grades cancer multiply very fast. Some of the common places where the kidney cancer spreads are the lymph nodes and the lungs.
How common is kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer is a very common type of cancer that mainly affects the older group of people. At an early stage, it is easily treatable. This cancer is very uncommon in people who are under the age of 45. It is commonly seen affecting men more than women. The risk of life for developing kidney cancer is found to be about 2.02% in men, whereas, in women, it’s 1.02%. No matter what is the reason but rate of kidney cancers has been rising since the year 1990 although the death rate has remained stable all these years.
- Kidney cancer treatment success rate.
- Survival and success rate of cancer treatment depends on several factors like
- Kind and stage of cancer
- Fitness level
- Previous treatment
These are all general statistics made depending on the group of patients but it’s not guaranteed what might happen in every individual case. Some people even survive for more years after diagnosis than predicted. It all depends on the stage of kidney cancer during the time it was diagnosed. This implies how big it is and whether it has started to spread or not. The cancer grade also affects the kidney cancer treatment success rate highly. Grading usually depends on how abnormal the cells are looking when seen under the microscope. Those tumours which are low grade grow very slowly when compared to high-grade tumours. In grading of kidney cancers grade, one is considered to be the lowest grade whereas, grade 4 is the highest grade.
Another factor that affects the success rate is your overall health and usually, doctors call it performance status. Score 0 means you are very active and more like you are before your illness. Likewise, score 1 means you cannot do heavy physical work and like this score goes up based on how much assistance you need. This score is vital in kidney cancer treatment as this cancer causes some of the general symptoms like weight loss, high temperature, weakness. People with no such symptoms possess a good outlook than people with all symptoms. Age is also a major factor that affects. Young people who are suffering from kidney cancer can survive more than older people
