Have you ever felt unnerved by the appearance of blood in your urine? You're not alone. In fact, research has found that blood in the urine, or hematuria, affects up to 30% of all adults.
Although a little alarming, blood in the urine doesn’t usually mean anything serious. It’s sometimes caused by minor problems like a urinary tract infection (UTI) or kidney stones. It can even be caused, in some cases, by certain medicines and hard exercise.
But blood in the urine can also point to something more sinister. It's one of the early signs of kidney cancer.
The No. 1 symptom of kidney cancer is, in fact, hematuria. That’s why paying attention to what’s going on with your body is so important. Especially because diagnosing kidney cancer early can make a big difference in its treatment.
What to Know About the Signs of Kidney Cancer
Most cancer types don’t come with cut-and-dry symptoms. Kidney cancer is no exception. There are warning signs, of course. But each of them could be caused by something else entirely.
Determining what’s cause for concern is often more about noticing something that’s off or not normal. And that doesn’t go away on its own. For example, if you just finished a tough workout and notice a dot or two of rust-colored blood in your urine, it’s probably not reason to panic. That said, if you notice it again (especially if it’s not after a workout), it might be time to call your doctor.
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It’s also important to understand when kidney cancers tend to cause symptoms. Because the kidneys are located deep inside the body, most tumors don’t show signs until they’ve grown. Many of these are found during treatment for something else, like back pain.
While many early kidney cancers don’t cause symptoms, some can. Similarly, not everyone experiences the same symptoms, so you can’t put too much stock in just one. Also (and still importantly), signs of kidney cancer in females are pretty much the same as symptoms in males.
Common Kidney Cancer Symptoms
Now that the groundwork’s laid, here are some recognized kidney cancer symptoms:
- A mass or lump on one side of the back
- Anemia (low red blood cells)
- Blood in the urine
- Loss of appetite
- Low back pain on one side
- Swelling of the legs and ankles
- Unexplained weight loss
Again, each of these symptoms can come from something other than cancer. Your doctor can help you determine what’s going on in your specific case.
It’s also important to let your doctor know if you have a family history of kidney cancer. Or if you’ve been diagnosed with a genetic disorder linked to the disease, like von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. (This syndrome causes your risk of developing tumors and cysts to rise.)
If your doctor does suspect kidney cancer, they’ll likely order tests to either rule out or diagnose the disease.
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The Importance of Kidney Cancer Early Diagnosis
When kidney cancer is caught early, it’s usually smaller and hasn’t spread to other parts of the body. The tumor could be small enough to simply keep an eye on — called watchful waiting or active surveillance. Or it could be small enough for surgery to remove.
Still, your doctor may recommend other treatments. Those could include chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Their job is to ensure the cancer doesn’t come back — and hasn’t spread to other parts of the body.
The good news is that diagnosing and treating kidney cancer early tends to lead to good outcomes. For example, 93% of people who have kidney cancer that hasn’t spread live for at least five years after diagnosis.
