2 Hospitals For Kidney Cancer In Maryland

Kidney Cancer (click for worldwide facilities list): Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of your fist. They're located behind your abdominal organs, one on each side of your spine. Like other major organs in the body, the kidneys can sometimes develop cancer.
Kidney cancer includes renal cell carcinoma (cancer that forms in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney that filter the blood and remove waste products) and renal pelvis carcinoma (cancer that forms in the center of the kidney where urine collects). It also includes Wilms tumor, which is a type of kidney cancer that usually develops in children under the age of 5.

A kidney cancer diagnosis typically begins with a complete medical history and a physical exam. You may also have one or more of the following tests to check your kidneys for growths or tumors: ultrasound, Computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, and tissue sample (biopsy).
Additional tests for transitional cell cancer Tests and procedures used to diagnose transitional cell kidney cancer may include: X-ray imaging of your urinary system (excretory urogram), and looking inside your bladder (cystoscopy).
Staging tests for kidney cancer may include additional CT scans, a chest X-ray or other imaging scans your doctor feels are appropriate.

Surgery is the initial treatment for the majority of kidney cancers. Surgical procedures used to treat kidney cancer include:
-Removing the affected kidney (nephrectomy). Radical nephrectomy involves the removal of the kidney as well as the adrenal gland that sits atop the kidney, a border of healthy tissue and adjacent lymph nodes. Nephrectomy can be done through an large incision, or be done laparoscopically, using small incisions to insert a video camera and tiny surgical tools.
- Removing the tumor from the kidney (nephron-sparing surgery). During this procedure, the surgeon removes the tumor, rather than the entire kidney.

For some people, surgery may be too risky. These people have other options for treating their kidney cancers, including:
- Embolization, blocking blood flow to the tumor by injecting a special material into the main blood vessel leading to the kidney.
- Cryoablation, a treatment to freeze cancer cells.

Kidney cancer that recurs and kidney cancer that spreads to other parts of the body may be curable. In these situations, treatments may include:
-Surgery to remove as much of the kidney tumor as possible
-Biological therapy which uses drugs that use your immune system to fight the cancer
-Targeted therapy that blocks specific abnormal signals present in kidney cancer cells that allow them to proliferate.
-Treatments for distant tumors such as surgery for brain metastasis or radiation for kidney cancer that has spread to bones.
- Clinical trials participation that give you a chance to try the latest treatments, but can't guarantee a cure.

reatment for transitional cell cancer typically involves an extensive operation to remove the tumor, ureter, kidney and a portion of the bladder. Surgery to remove only the tumor may be an option in some cases. Chemotherapy may be useful in treating transitional cell cancer that has spread or that recurs.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/kidney-cancer/DS00360
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/types/kidney