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If you have kidney cancer symptoms or have a high risk of kidney cancer, your doctor may recommend testing. Mercy physicians use advanced imaging and lab tests to diagnose kidney cancer. Some tests used to diagnose kidney cancer might include a biopsy, urinalysis if your Mercy provider suspects a kidney problem, as well as imaging and lab tests.
Imaging tests are used to diagnose kidney cancer as well as determine whether it has spread or not. Imaging tests used in kidney cancer diagnosis are:
During a biopsy, a small tissue sample is removed from the kidney to be examined under a microscope to determine if cancer is present.
Renal cancer staging indicates how far cancer may have grown beyond the kidneys to other parts of the body. The stage of kidney cancer helps Mercy doctors determine the best course of treatment.
Stage I of kidney cancer indicates that the tumor is approximately 7 cm across or smaller and has not spread beyond the kidney.
Stage II of kidney cancer indicates that either the tumor is larger than 7 cm across but has not spread beyond the kidney. Or that the tumor is growing into a major vein or into the tissue around the kidney but isn't growing into the adrenal gland or Gerota's facia (the fibrous tissue that surrounds the kidney) In stage II, kidney cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes or to distant organs.
Stage III of kidney cancer indicates that the main tumor can be any size and can be outside the kidney, however, it has not spread beyond Gerota's facia. It may have spread to nearby lymph nodes but not to distant lymph nodes or to other organs.
The main tumor is growing outside Gerota's facia and may be growing into the adrenal gland in stage IV of kidney cancer. The main tumor can be any size and may have grown outside the kidney.
Surgery is often the main treatment for most types of kidney cancer. Mercy offers a full team of specialists and advanced surgical technologies and techniques such as robot-assisted and video-assisted surgery for easier procedures and recoveries. Surgical treatments of kidney cancer include the following:
Radical nephrectomy, or complete nephrectomy, involves removing the entire kidney along with nearby lymph nodes, adrenal gland and surrounding tissues. It is often recommended for kidney cancers that have grown into surrounding tissues but have not yet spread. Radial nephrectomies are performed laparoscopically, with robot-assisted technologies or through an open incision.
Partial nephrectomy
Partial nephrectomy, also known as nephron-sparing surgery or kidney-sparing surgery, involves removing the tumor and sparing the remainder of the kidney. This type of surgery is preferred for early-stage kidney cancer.
A regional lymphadenectomy, also known as a lymph node dissection, is a procedure to remove nearby lymph nodes to see if they contain cancer. Sometimes this is performed during a radical nephrectomy.
A kidney transplant replaces a nonfunctional kidney with a new kidney, although many people can live with just one kidney.
Radiation therapy may be part of your kidney cancer treatment plan to eliminate cancer cells. Radiotherapy may be used before or after surgery for kidney cancer. Advanced radiation treatments for kidney cancer include intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT).
Cryoablation, also known as cryotherapy, is an outpatient procedure used to kill kidney cancer cells using extreme cold.
RFA uses high-frequency electrical energy to heat the kidney tumor and kill the cancer cells.
Part of your treatment plan for kidney cancer may include immunotherapy. Also known as targeted therapy or biologic therapy, immunotherapy is designed to use the body's immune system to fight kidney cancer.
Chemotherapy may be used as a part of a kidney cancer treatment plan if targeted therapies are unsuccessful.
Mercy offers comprehensive cancer care with access to cutting-edge diagnostic technologies.