Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma may be revealed from yearly medical check-ups or urinary, kidney and bladder symptoms. Diagnosis of kidney cancer involves ultrasound, CT, or MRI imaging, blood and urine tests, a physical, a review of your medical history, and an assessment of any risk factors that are associated with cancer.

Renal cell carcinoma can have a genetic component but today’s (2010) commercial exome and biomarker results are gleamed from a limited genome test and from a small number of case studies and are not accurate predictors of renal cell carcinoma. As full genome testing becomes commercial and large populations are analyzed with advanced bioinformatics programs, and proteomics diagnostics become available, in the next 5 years, at that point personalized medicine will become a viable part of renal cell carcinoma prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Dr. Fernando Bianco and Dr. Edward Gheiler offer clinical research trials to give better diagnostics and cures to their clients at the renowned Florida Urology Specialists Center in Miami. All modalities of medicine are offered because every pathology is different and each person’s choices are different. We also use natural medicine holistic procedures to diagnose and treat our clients.

Renal cell carcinoma is one type of kidney cancer; other kidney cancers include renal pelvis carcinoma and Wilms tumor (affecting children).  Renal cell carcinoma affects nine out of ten people that get kidney cancer. The urology specialist can diagnose the kidney mass with a biopsy to determine what kidney cancer exists, many kidney tumors are benign (non-cancerous) but disrupt the functioning of the kidney. The standard medical tools for treating renal cell carcinoma are nephrectomy, partial nephrectomy, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

Renal cell carcinoma is treated according to its stage. If the kidney mass is 2 ½ inches or less, it is a stage 1 kidney cancer. If the kidney tumor is three inches or more, it is a stage 2 kidney cancer. If a tumor is in the kidney, blood vessels of the kidney, or fatty tissue around the kidney and has reached a lymph node it is a stage 3 kidney cancer. Once renal cell carcinoma has started to grow in other organs (adrenal gland, bones, liver, lungs and brain) it is categorized as a stage 4 kidney cancer.
Renal cell carcinoma symptoms are discussed on the following page.

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