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All About Kidney Cancer: Risk Factors, Warning Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options

All About Kidney Cancer: Risk Factors, Warning Signs, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options

Your kidneys are fairly small. Plus, you have two of them but you only need one to live. Knowing this, you might think that kidney conditions aren’t a big deal. In truth, your kidneys play a huge role in your body. You rely on these fist-sized organs to process out waste, maintain healthy blood pressure levels, and more. 

As a result, if you notice the signs of kidney problems that could point to cancer, it’s important to act fast. Make an appointment with our expert providers at Vascular & Interventional Associates in Crestview Hills, Kentucky. 

As kidney cancer specialists, we’re here to help people throughout northern Kentucky and the Cincinnati, Ohio, area recognize the warning signs in order to get effective treatment promptly.

Kidney cancer warning signs and risk factors

It’s one of the 10 most common cancers across the United States for both women and men. But it can be easy to ignore some of the warning signs of kidney cancer, such as persistent fatigue. In fact, some of the symptoms, like a loss of appetite or weight loss, might even seem welcome at first. 

If you notice blood in your urine or pain in your lower back or side pain along with those other symptoms, though, make an appointment with a specialist. That’s especially true if any of these kidney cancer risk factors apply to you:

Also, if you have Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome, a hereditary condition, be extra diligent about watching for the signs of kidney cancer. 

What to do if you notice symptoms

If the warning signs noted above sound familiar, make an appointment to see a specialist at Vascular and Interventional Associates. With a physical exam and diagnostic tools like blood and urine tests or imaging, we can determine what’s going on with your kidneys. 

If you do have kidney cancer, we work with you to develop a treatment plan tailored to you. The treatment or treatments we recommend depend on the stage of your cancer, your overall health, and other factors specific to you. 

In some cases, your treatment plan might mean addressing a tumor on your kidney with cryo-ablation or radiofrequency ablation. For more advanced cancer, we may recommend a nephrectomy, the removal of the affected kidney. Fortunately, you only need one kidney to live. 

If you and your care team catch the cancer before it has the chance to spread, your outlook is positive. That means you should always act fast as soon as you notice the warning signs of kidney cancer. 

Don’t wait to make an appointment with us if you notice blood in your urine accompanied by pain and fatigue. Call Vascular & Interventional Associates or request an appointment online today via this website as soon as possible.

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