What is the best treatment for kidney cancer?

Introduction

A kidney is an organ in the human body that has the functionality of removing waste products and extra water from the blood in the form of urine and helps to keep a balance of minerals such as potassium in the body. The kidneys also produce hormones that help control blood pressure and trigger the bone marrow to make red blood cells. Each human has two kidneys located on the backside of the abdomen.

Symptoms of Kidney cancer

Renal cancer, popularly known as kidney cancer, is a disease that attacks the kidneys because of cancerous cells developing in the body. The disease is not infectious, but it may be passed on genetically. The disease has no clear cause, but it starts when kidney cells mutate, and DNA alters. Common symptoms experienced in the early stages of cancer include red urine, as it contains blood, extensive pain around the kidney areas, anorexia, unreasonable loss of weight, fatigue, and fever.

How is kidney cancer detected?

Kidney cancer can be detected by examining a sample of the kidney tissue in a laboratory through a Computed tomography (CT) scanning or Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning. Therefore, you must consult your doctor once you begin experiencing symptoms.

Risk factors for kidney cancer

Humans with the highest risk of getting kidney cancer include the elderly, smokers, obese, those with high blood pressure, those previously treated for kidney failure, and those with a family history of kidney cancer. Since a vaccine preventing kidney cancer does not exist, it is crucial to reduce your risk of developing the disease by avoiding smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, and controlling your high blood pressure. But what is the best kidney cancer treatment if it is detected?

How is kidney cancer treated?

Kidney cancer can be treated in a variety of ways. These include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and hormone therapy. Surgery involves using instrumental techniques to open a patient and access the kidneys to cut out the cancerous parts. Radiation therapy involves ionizing radiation from a laser source to burn cancer cells. Immunotherapy involves stimulating an individual's immune system by injecting or consuming medicinal drugs to produce unmutated normal cells and antibodies that fight off the cancer cells. Hormone therapy involves introducing excess levels of hormones such as estrogen and androgen to help fight cancer cells.

Chemotherapy involves the patient consuming drugs that fight cancerous cells. One of the most popular kidney cancer medicines is sunitinib malate capsules. The pills come in 28-pill packaging size, with each pill containing 12.5mg of Sunitinib Malate. Hence the capsules are also referred to as Sunitinib Malate 12.5 mg or Sutekast while trading under “Sutent.” The medication was first developed in the United States in 2007 but is now also manufactured in India. The suggested dosage and administration are a 6-week cycle, in which the patient takes two capsules every day for a month, followed by fifteen days without taking the pills. The pills inhibit the movement of receptor tyrosine kinases, which are the key receptors in cancer tumor construction. The pills have known side effects of dizziness, tiredness, diarrhea, skin becoming yellow, and rashes on the hands and feet.

Conclusion

The variety of methods mentioned above to treat cancer allows medical professionals to pick the most effective way to treat cancer, depending on the detection stage. Some methods are more effective when the cancer is detected early and ineffective during advanced stages. It is also worth noting that the more advanced the cancer stage, the more sophisticated kind of treatment is required, and the more costly the treatment becomes.