Cancer Doctors in Los Angeles, CA
Fighting cancer is one of life’s most difficult challenges – but with a quality team of cancer doctors on your side, there’s always hope. At Pasadena CyberKnife, we’ve helped countless patients throughout greater Los Angeles beat cancer through noninvasive CyberKnife treatment. Kidney cancer is one of the conditions we treat most frequently, so we’ve compiled a few of the most common questions about kidney cancer alongside their answers.
Frequently Asked Questions About Kidney Cancer
What is kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer, also called renal cancer, is any cancerous tumor that grows in the kidneys: a pair of bean-shaped organs about the size of a fist located on either side of the spine. The kidneys play a critical function in the body, filtering toxins and waste products out of the blood and passing them to the bladder for excretion. The body can’t survive without the kidneys – but if can function with only one kidney, so surgical removal is often a viable treatment for kidney cancer.
What’s the outlook for kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer is often treatable, with a 5-year survival rate just shy of 75% for all forms of kidney cancer. As with all forms of treatment, early detection offers the best chance of success. When caught at a localized stage, which means the cancer is fully contained in the tumor itself and has not spread to lymph nodes, the 5-year survival rate for kidney cancer is 95%.
What are the types of kidney cancer?
While there are many subtypes depending on the type of cell in which the tumor originates, kidney cancer is broadly divided into two categories: renal cell carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma. Renal cell carcinoma is the most common, accounting for 85% of cases and beginning in the lining of the tubules in the kidney that carry waste products from the blood. Transitional cell carcinoma accounts for only 6 to 7% of cases and forms in the renal pelvis, which is where the kidney joins the ureter, the tube that carries urine to the bladder.
What are the risk factors for kidney cancer?
While the exact causes of cancer are unknown, research has identified a variety of risk factors that increase the likelihood of developing kidney cancer. Risk factors for kidney cancer include:
- Being obese or overweight
- Hypertension (High blood pressure)
- Smoking
- Family history of kidney cancer
- Patients receiving long-term dialysis
- Exposure to cadmium or asbestos, which may be used in certain industrial processes
What are the treatment options for kidney cancer?
There are several potential options for treating kidney cancer, and you and your doctor will need to decide which one is right for your unique case. In many cases, the best option is to combine multiple methods to create a comprehensive cancer treatment. The most common treatments for kidney cancer include:
- Surgery
- Chemotherapy
- Targeted therapy
- Immunotherapy
- Radiation Therapy (such as CyberKnife)
At our cancer center, we offer state-of-the-art CyberKnife treatment for kidney cancer. This noninvasive method uses a precisely-targeted beam of radiation to kill cancer cells without the need for surgery, eliminating the tumor. Your doctor may opt to use CyberKnife as a standalone treatment, or may combine it with other methods like surgery or chemotherapy – it all depends on the specifics of your case.
Schedule a Consultation for Radiation Therapy in Pasadena, CA
We hope you found these answers informative, and as always, we’re standing by to help if you have more questions. Don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or to schedule a consultation to see if CyberKnife is right for you. We’ll work with you to fully understand your situation, design a comprehensive treatment plan, and help you start the path towards recovery.