Kidney Cancer: Renal Cell Carcinoma

The kidneys, weighing 4 to 5 ounces, are a pair of bean-shaped organs, not much bigger than the fists. They are a part of the abdominal cavity stuck to the upper back wall. These kidneys are both well protected by a ribcage and responsible for filtering blood and to get rid of the body’s excess water, salt, and wastes. The filtered wastes are later converted into urine and the urine leaves the kidneys through ureters which are long slender tubes that connect to the bladder. The urine is stored in the bladder until it’s ready to be released during the process of urination. Even though the kidneys are very important to the body’s daily functions, it’s only necessary have one or even less than one kidney to perform its tasks. In fact, thousands of people in the United States are living long healthy lives with only one kidney.

Kidney cancer comes in more than one form, but the most common is renal cell carcinoma. It is responsible for 90% of the cancerous tumors found in kidneys. Renal cell carcinoma, like the rest of the types of cancer, starts out small and grows larger over a period of time. It’s also possible for a kidney to develop more than one tumor. For the most part, kidney tumors are usually only found after they’ve grown quite large and before they spread, or metastasize, to other organs or lymph vessels through out the body, and like any other cancer, once kidney cancer has metastasized, it’s nearly impossible to treat.

Renal cell carcinoma comes in a variety of types, but the 5 main ones are: clear cell, papillary, chromophobe, collecting duct, and unclassified. These specific types of renal cell carcinoma are determined under a microscope, for example clear cell carcinoma appears to be very pale or clear. It’s the most common form of renal cell carcinoma being responsible for 80% of the people that have the disease.