• The disease
• Diagnosis
• Treatments

 
Many renal masses remain asymptomatic until the late stages of the disease.

Currently, more than 50% of RCCs are detected incidentally when non-invasive imaging is used to investigate a variety of nonspecific symptoms and other abdominal diseases . The classic triad of flank pain, gross haematuria, and palpable abdominal mass is now rare (6-10%) and correlates with advanced disease.

Paraneoplastic syndromes are found in approximately 30% of patients with symptomatic RCCs. Most common paraneoplastic syndromes are: Hypertension, cachexia, weight loss, pyrexia, neuromyopathy, amyloidosis, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anemia, abnormal liver function, hypercalcemia and polycythemia

Physical examination has only a limited role in the diagnosis of RCC. However, the following findings should prompt radiological examinations: Palpable abdominal mass; palpable cervical lymphadenopathy; non-reducing varicocele and bilateral lower extremity oedema, which suggests venous involvement .

If symptoms or the results of the physical exam suggest kidney cancer, more tests will probably be performed including lab tests and imaging tests

• Lab tests
  • Urinalysis
  • Complete blood count (CBC)
  • Blood chemistry tests
• Imaging tests
  • Computed tomography (CT) scans, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and ultrasound can be very helpful in diagnosing most kinds of kidney tumors, although patients rarely need all of these tests.
  • Other tests, such as chest x-rays and bone scans, are more often used to help determine if the cancer has spread (metastasized) to other parts of the body.