Diseases Treatment

Kidney Tumors are not uncommon. They may be benign, or they may be malignant that is, cancerous, with ability to spread to other parts of the body (metastasize). The benign tumors are essentially cysts of the kidney, fluid­filled sacs. These may occur in one kidney or both, and may produce a large mass in the abdomen of the patient.

Malignant tumors practically always affect only one kidney. They arise in functioning tissue of the kidney. In general, kidney malignancies occur in two periods of life, in infancy, and in mid-adult life. Broadly speaking, there are two types: the so-called Wilms’ tumor of childhood, and the malignancy of the adult; the so­called hypernephroma, which occurs primarily in persons over the age of 40. There are other malignant tumors which need not be discussed, because they are extremely rare and their effects are quite similar to those of Wilms’ and hypernephroma tumors.
Kidney Tumor Symptoms

Evidences of such kidney tumors are primarily pain in one side or the other, bloody urine, or appearance of a mass in the abdomen in the region of the kidney. The symptom of bloody urine may not be accompanied by pain. There may be periods when there is no blood in the urine, and precious time may be lost in hope that the symptom will “go away.” It is always a symptom that calls for immediate investigation, although it may originate from quite another cause than cancer.
Kidney Tumor Cure

As with all cancers, the best hope of cure lies in early treatment.A mother is often the first to discover a Wilms’ tumor, as an abdominal mass, in the course of caring for her baby. The tumor usually occurs before the age of seven. A mass that can be felt in the abdomen is not necessarily a Wilms’ tumor. A very large hydronephrosis, which we will discuss later, can also produce a mass and is much more common than Wilms’ tumor. Congenital cysts of the kidney also may produce a large abdominal mass. Every child who has a palpable mass in the abdomen should be investigated promptly. The treatment for Wilms’ tumor and hypernephroma is removal.