Diagnosis
If you have symptoms of kidney cancer, your doctor will conduct a physical exam and take your medical history to determine what might be causing them. If your doctor thinks kidney cancer might be present, he will order additional tests to diagnose the disease.
Urinalysis
Your doctor will take a urine sample and have it analyzed for blood. About half of all people with kidney cancer have traces of blood in their urine. If your urine comes back positive for blood, your doctor will order additional tests.
Complete Blood Count (CBC)
This test measures the levels of the different cells in your blood. People with kidney cancer may have abnormal levels of red blood cells, white blood cells, and/or platelets.
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Blood Chemistry Profile
This test measures the levels of different substances in the blood, such as creatinine, calcium, blood urea nitrogen, and protein. These values provide important information on the function of your kidneys and other organs. For example, high levels of BUN and creatinine may indicate kidney dysfunction, while high calcium levels may indicate bone metastasis or otherwise be associated with kidney cancer.
Ultrasound
Ultrasounds emit sound waves that bounce off body tissues to an image of a part of the body. If this test is issued, your doctor will wave an ultrasound device over your abdomen, and use it to spot any tumors or abnormal areas in the kidneys.
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Computed Tomography (CT) Scan
CT scans are one the most useful diagnostic tests for kidney cancer. A CT scan can show the exact location, size, and shape of a tumor in the kidneys, and can also show cancer in the lymph nodes and abdomen. For a CT scan, you lie flat on a table while a machine rotates around your body and takes pictures, producing detailed cross-sectional images of your body.
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Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan
MRI scans use radio waves and a powerful magnet to produce detailed images of the body. Radio waves are absorbed by the body and released in a certain pattern which is translated by a computer in order to show “slices” of the body. An MRI can produce detailed pictures of the urinary tract and lymph nodes, and can show if there is cancer in the kidneys.
Intravenous Pyelogram (IVP)
An IVP is a series of X-rays taken after your doctor injects a special dye. The dye travels through the kidneys, ureters, and bladder, and can help doctors find tumors and other abnormalities in the renal pelvis. This test is rarely used to diagnose kidney cancer anymore.
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Biopsy
Doctors do not often perform biopsies to diagnose kidney cancer. Imaging tests usually show enough detail to accurately diagnose the disease. If imaging tests are inconclusive, your doctor may perform a fine needle aspiration or core needle biopy. In both procedures, your doctor uses a CT scan or MRI to guide a needle to the kidneys and extract a tissue sample. Your doctor sends this sample to a pathologist, who examines it under a microscope and make a diagnosis.
