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Kidney Cancer

diagnosis · treatment · research

What kidney cancer is

When tumour cells—which can invade surrounding healthy tissues to reach and implant themselves into distant organs—are located in the kidney, this refers to kidney cancer, or hypernephroma.

Kidney cancer, also known as hypernephroma, can be cured with surgery when it is localised.

Currently, the increased incidence of small tumours allows for the preservation of the organ, avoiding long-term damage to the patient’s renal function. These are delicate surgical techniques that can be performed both openly and laparoscopically. Other techniques to avoid conventional surgery, such as cryoablation or radiofrequency, can also be performed, although with more selective indications.

The Urology Service of the IVO performs all the aforementioned techniques.

However, when the tumour has spread to other sites (metastasis), the prognosis is generally very poor, but a small percentage of patients may still experience a slow evolution over several years. The number of surviving patients and duration of survival is increasing thanks to the introduction of new targeted drugs.

Kidney cancer is one of the few tumours in which spontaneous regression has been described in exceptional cases.

Treatment of kidney cancer at the IVO

IVO Urological Tumour Committee

The Urological Tumour Committee is made up of a multidisciplinary team of expert professionals.

Urology
Service

The Urology Service offers alternatives for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of urological tumours

Medical Oncology Service

The Service's team of professionals accompanies cancer patients throughout the whole disease process.

Clinical trials

The current way we have of advancing and improving cancer treatment is through what we call "clinical trials".

A clinical trial is a research study carried out on people with the aim of learning more about how the body reacts to certain treatments. These trials generally seek to find drugs that are more effective than the current best therapeutic option for patients, or that have similar efficacy but a better toxicity profile.

Bearing in mind that almost all currently available treatments are the result of clinical research, the importance of clinical trials is obvious.

The IVO has a clinical trials unit for all types of tumours and participates in phase 1-3 studies as well as other types of studies.

Living with kidney cancer

coping with the diagnosis and receiving treatment and psychological support

Whether you receive the news of an initial diagnosis of cancer or a relapse, coping with cancer can be emotionally overwhelming. Each person has their own way of coping with a kidney cancer diagnosis, but there are some recommendations that can help you through this process:

  • Maintain communication and the company of family and friends, the people closest to the patient, who can provide a support network throughout the process
  • Talk to other people who have survived cancer or who are in the same situation. There are many local and national associations and support groups. The Spanish Association Against Cancer (Asociación Española Contra el Cáncer) is perhaps the best-known one.
  • Inform yourself in order to make the best decisions about treatment and medical professionals.

Early Diagnosis

Nuclear Medicine

ROBOT-ASSISTED SURGERY

Radiation Therapy