The Most Common Signs of Kidney Cancer Doctors Want Everyone To Know About

Emily Laurence

Model representing kidney disease

Though the odds of getting kidney cancer are rare (about a 1% chance for women and a 2% chance for men), the number of new diagnoses has been on the rise in recent years. Part of this could be due to the fact that people are living longer than ever before (the average age of people diagnosed with kidney cancer is between 65 and 74), but it’s also due to newer imaging tests that can catch kidney cancer at its earliest stages—a development that is definitely a positive.

As with any cancer, early diagnosis is key. This is why it’s helpful to know how to catch kidney cancer as early as possible—including knowing its most common symptoms. 

Related: The Common Habit That Could Be Damaging Your Kidneys, According to a Nephrologist 

What Is Kidney Cancer and Who Is Most at Risk?

Dr. Thu H. Le, MD, FAHA, the Chief of the Division of Nephrology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine, explains that there are several types of kidney cancer, and all have different causes. She says that the most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma (RRC), which forms in tiny tubes inside the kidneys. Nine out of 10 people with kidney cancer have it in this form.

It bears repeating that kidney cancer is rare; the vast majority of people are not at risk for it. But Dr. Matthew Cooperberg, MD, MPH, a Professor of Urology at the University of California, San Francisco, says that risk factors can include a family history of kidney cancer, exposure to environmental toxins that can increase the rate of mutations in the DNA (such as from smoking or vaping), obesity, and having chronic kidney disease.

Related: 11 Things You Didn't Know About Your Kidneys

“Kidney cancer is more common as people get older. It is about twice as common in men as women, and occurs more frequently among African American and Native American people than in other risk groups,” Dr. Cooperberg adds.

What Are the Symptoms of Kidney Cancer?

Here’s what’s tricky about kidney cancer. Dr. Le says that, typically, symptoms don’t start until it’s quite advanced. She says that by the time symptoms start occurring, the cancer may have already started to spread or become advanced. “It is not uncommon for kidney cancer to be detected incidentally as a result of use of imaging studies for unrelated conditions,” she explains.

What does this mean in terms of what you can do to be proactive about your health? If anything is going on with your health that is unusual for you, see your healthcare provider. If your healthcare provider believes you can benefit from further testing or scans, getting them done may lead to identifying a health condition (such as kidney cancer) before it further negatively impacts your health.

“Genetic counseling and assessment should be done to rule out a hereditary kidney cancer syndrome in patients with kidney cancer who are less than 47 years of age, those presenting with kidney cancer in both kidneys or have a strong family history of kidney cancer,” Dr. Le adds.

Related: The One Thing You Should Absolutely Never Do If You Want To Keep Your Kidneys Healthy 

If kidney cancer does advance, symptoms can occur. Dr. Cooperberg says this may include blood in the urine or pain in the side, neck and back. “Advanced kidney cancers can cause pain, fatigue, loss of appetite, bleeding and a variety of other symptoms. But again, most of these are found today when they are quite small and not causing any symptoms,” he says.

If you are experiencing any of these symptoms and see your doctor about them, Dr. Le says that the next step is typically getting a CT scan or abdominal ultrasound. “If the CT scan or abdominal ultrasound is inconclusive, then a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be the next step to determine if the mass is an RCC or some other benign or malignant mass,” she explains.

When kidney cancer is found early, there are a few different actions your doctor may take. “When kidney cancers are found early, they are either surveilled [watched carefully with repeat scans], ablated [destroyed with heat or cold energy] or removed surgically. Larger tumors might require removing a whole kidney. If the cancer spreads to other parts of the body, then a variety of treatments can slow it down but usually do not cure it,” Dr. Cooperberg says.

Since the symptoms of kidney cancer don’t typically manifest until it is quite advanced, the best action you can take is to care for your overall health as well as you can and see your doctor anytime anything unusual is happening. No one knows your body better than you. If something is “off,” go with your gut and see your healthcare provider—don’t wait!

Next up, this is the number one habit that can make your kidneys healthier, according to a nephrologist. 

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