Back toUpdated on October 16, 2024
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is the most common type of kidney cancer. Let's take a deep-dive look in the human body and this cancer.
Transcript
Renal cell carcinoma, or RCC, is the most common type of kidney cancer. It's estimated to affect nearly 59,000 people each year.
Several factors contribute to the risk of RCC. Smoking doubles the risk and is implicated in up to 1/3
of all cases. Due to the fact that RCC occurs inside the kidneys, it often goes unnoticed. After all, your kidneys are completely hidden,
and their function is silent. You have two kidneys. In addition to regulating key functions of the body, such as fluid and electrolyte levels,
these remarkable organs filter and remove various wastes from blood so they can be excreted in urine. Deep inside each kidney are millions
of tiny structures called nephrons, where blood filtration occurs and urine is produced. This is where most forms of renal cell carcinoma start.
Like all cancers, it begins as a microscopic growth. Renal cell carcinoma is unusual because the original small tumor is able to grow unnoticed
for a long period of time. Deep inside the kidney, it's not easily detected so there may be no symptoms that a person would notice.
If there are any symptoms, they may include back pain or blood in urine. Plus, your doctor may notice a mass
in the lower region of your back during a physical examination. Unfortunately, only around 10% of patients will experience all three of these symptoms.
Eventually, the tumor will grow large enough to cause symptoms. But by this time, it is not uncommon for renal cell
carcinoma to have already reached an advanced stage. Advanced renal cell carcinoma is when cancer cells have escaped from the kidney and traveled
to other parts of the body, that is, become metastatic. These cells may travel to other organs, such as the liver, the lungs, or bone marrow,
where they form new tumors. Advanced renal cell carcinoma requires aggressive treatment. Fortunately, many treatment options are available,
and new ones are rapidly being developed. Current treatments for advanced renal cell carcinoma usually include multiple types of agents,
such as targeted therapies and immunotherapy, because different strategies are required in order to improve effectiveness.
The cancer cells in renal cell carcinoma are abnormal in several ways. For example, they develop changes
that allow them to grow without the normal controls of other cells. Targeted therapies interfere with these abnormal signals
and help limit cancer cells from growing. Cancer cells also survive by developing the ability to avoid being targeted by the immune system.
Immunotherapy reveals cancer cells so the immune system can detect and destroy them. Treatments that combine immunotherapy
with targeted therapies are proving to be more and more effective against advanced renal cell carcinoma. Everyone is different, and different circumstances
require their own treatment strategies so talk to your doctor to learn more. [MUSIC PLAYING]
