University Hospitals Seidman Cancer Center Offers Complete Kidney Cancer Diagnosis
Currently, there are no widely used screening programs or tests for kidney cancer. However, patients who are on long-term kidney dialysis and those with von Hippl-Lindau diseases or tuberous sclerosis should undergo periodic assessment of their kidneys. Monitoring the kidneys can assist in the early detection of kidney cancer.
Most kidney cancer tumors are found incidentally when patients are being evaluated by their UH Seidman Cancer Center physician who utilized radiologic imaging studies for other nonspecific abdominal complaints, such as gallbladder pain, or during a follow-up appointment. This is one way kidney cancer can be detected before it spreads. Patients with incidental kidney tumors are often cured of the disease, many times from a minimally invasive surgical procedure.
If the physician suspects that a patient might have a kidney tumor, the following tests may be performed:
- Computed tomography (CT) imaging
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- 3D CT or a 3D magnetic resonance imaging angiography, which captures images of the blood vessels in the kidneys
- CT urography, which captures images of part of the urinary tract
- Ultrasound, which may be used to determine if a kidney tumor is a cyst filled with fluid or a solid tumor
If a UH Seidman Cancer Center physician identifies cancer of the renal pelvis or transitional cell carcinoma in his or her patient, the following procedures may be performed:
- Cytoscopy: a small tube with a lens is inserted into the urethra to allow the bladder and urethra to be viewed
- Ureteroscopy: a narrow, light tube is passed through the urethra, into the bladder, into a ureter, and then into the renal pelvis to search for signs of kidney cancer
- Biopsy: a procedure to remove a small piece of tissue so the physician can closely examine for cancer cells
While there are some benign (noncancerous) kidney tumors, most are malignant (cancerous). A biopsy is often helpful to evaluate some tumors; however, a negative test result from a kidney tumor biopsy does not guarantee that the kidney is cancer free. Therefore, doctors usually treat solid kidney tumors as cancer without performing a biopsy.
UH Seidman Cancer Center multidisciplinary team utilizes this important information, along with the tumor size and other aspects of tumor growth, to better predict the prognosis and to determine further patient treatment if deemed necessary.
Our team will also take the patient’s medical history information, perform a physician examination, and possibly order additional laboratory studies such as routine blood and urine tests.