Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma is a highly malignant tumor in the urinary system and one of the most common tumors. It originates from the epithelial system of the renal parenchyma and urinary tubules, also known as renal adenocarcinoma, and accounts for 80% to 90% of renal malignancies. According to the survey, kidney cancer ranks second among tumors of the urinary and reproductive system, second only to bladder tumors. There is a significant difference in the incidence rate between men and women. According to statistics, the ratio of men and women is 2:1. The incidence rate of renal cell carcinoma increases with age. Some data show that the high incidence age of renal cell carcinoma is 40-55 years old. In addition, there is a significant international difference in the incidence rate of renal cell carcinoma. The incidence of renal cell carcinoma in Europe and the United States is significantly higher than that in Asia, and the incidence rate of renal cell carcinoma in Japan, India and other countries is lower.

Figure 1. Renal Cell Carcinoma.

Etiology

The cause of renal cell carcinoma is still unclear. Epidemiologists have conducted a lot of investigations and found that the following factors may be related to the incidence of renal cell carcinoma: smoking, obesity, occupation (workers exposed to cadmium, steel workers and oil industry workers, etc.), hypertension, diabetes, blood transfusion, radiation, related drugs, food, etc. In addition, patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing long-term dialysis treatment are also at high risk of kidney cancer.

Clinical Manifestations

The manifestations of kidney cancer can be diverse, and the typical "triad" of kidney cancer is hematuria, lower back pain, and mass. When renal cancer invades the renal pelvis, there is hematuria; The pain is mainly caused by the enlargement of the renal cell carcinoma mass and the inflation of the renal capsule, which is often dull pain. The pain caused by renal cell carcinoma invading surrounding organs and lumbar muscles is relatively severe and persistent. If blood clots block the ureter, it is colic. Generally, the surface of the lump is smooth and hard. No tenderness, if palpable, the kidney cancer has reached a considerable volume. Most patients only have 1-2 of these symptoms, and those with all three symptoms are rare, accounting for about 10%. About one-third of patients have systemic symptoms (i.e. extrarenal manifestations of kidney cancer), such as fever, hypertension, rapid erythrocyte sedimentation rate, anemia, abnormal liver function, immune system changes, hormone level changes, elevated urinary polyamines, elevated blood carcinoembryonic antigen, varicocele, etc. These systemic symptoms not only serve as clues for detecting kidney cancer, but also are important factors affecting prognosis.

Antibodies