World Kidney Cancer Day: Doctors of Mohali Fortis Hospital raise awareness on causes, symptoms

With June 19 being the World Kidney Cancer Day, doctors at Fortis Hospital in Mohali have been raising awareness on the rising cases burden in India and highlighting symptoms such as abdominal pain, swelling in abdomen, unexplained weight loss and blood in urine.

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Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a chronic disease that originates in the kidneys, usually when the cells grow out of control. To raise awareness on the ailment and its related complications, World Kidney Cancer Day is observed across the world on the third Thursday of June every year. This year, the global theme urges people to "Show Your Kidneys Some Love”. It's a call to action to protect two of the body's most vital yet often neglected organs.

Dr Dharmender Aggarwal, consultant, uro-oncology and robotic surgery, at Fortis Hospital, Mohali, shared a health advisory, shedding light on kidney cancer, its causes, warning signs and prevention.

Discussing the causes of kidney cancer, Dr Aggarwal, said, “The disease is mostly caused due to smoking, obesity, poor diet, high blood pressure, long-term kidney dialysis, exposure to chemicals such as arsenic, hereditary factors etc.”

He said the warning signs were blood in urine (hematuria), abdominal pain and swelling, lump in the abdomen, constant tiredness, unexplained weight loss, fever not caused by cold or flu.

He added, “The main treatment for kidney cancer is surgery. But, chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be required in small number of cases. A CT scan and chest x-ray are usually conducted to determine the spread of the cancer.”

About types of surgeries, he said in partial nephrectomy, the surgeon removes the tumour-affected part of the kidney and leaves the healthy part intact. Partial nephrectomy is usually conducted if the kidney tumour hasn’t spread. In radical nephrectomy, the surgeon removes the entire kidney and may also remove lymph nodes around it. The procedure is recommended if the kidney tumour is large.

Dr Aggarwal, said, “Though kidney cancer cannot be prevented, one can lower the risk of contracting the disease by following certain measures. These include abstaining from smoking, controlling hypertension, getting a regular ultrasound done once a year and maintaining a healthy weight.”