Kidney and Adrenal Cancer

Kidney Cancer

It is an insidious cancer that is asymptomatic even in advanced stages and most of the times is discovered by chance while a sonogram or a CT scan was performed for totally unrelated reasons. The widespread use of abdominal ultrasounds and CT scans of the chest, abdomen and pelvis performed to evaluate a wide range of complaints permitted to discover many unsuspected kidney cancers at their various stages.

The kidney cancer can be diagnosed with great accuracy by performing a contrast CT scan. Most of the tumors do not require a biopsy but on occasions with small solid lesions less than 3 cm in diameter a biopsy is necessary. Many kidney cancers are diagnosed while investigating the causes of microscopic or gross hematuria.

 The treatment for kidney cancer is:

An open radical nephrectomy that is performed for large tumors.

Laparoscopic or Robotic radical nephrectomy for small tumors.

Laparoscopic or Robotic partial nephrectomy for small peripheral tumors.

Adrenal Cancer

The adrenal cancer is discovered in a similar way. A size greater than 5 cm of the adrenal tumor prompts its removal and pathologic examination. Very rare hormonally active tumors are diagnosed by investigating certain manifestations of hormonal activities and imaging using highly specialized isotopic technologies.

The treatment for adrenal cancer is:

Removal by open, laparoscopic or Robotic surgery.  The choice depends from the tumor size and location.