The kidneys need to be seen in order to identify cancer or show kidney damage caused by the tumor. There is no standard blood test for the disease. A biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis. Although tumor size is not always a reliable index of metastatic potential, early renal carcinomas often represent a malignancy of low grade. The disease spreads by direct extension to adjacent structures or through lymph or blood to distant sites.
Distant metastases remain the primary cause of death and therapeutic failure.
Growth is relatively silent until late in the development of the cancer, so metastases are fairly common. After Diagnosis of Kidney Cancer, 1985-1988 . Stage of Disease . Patients less than 50 years old had improved prognosis compared with patients older than 50. The authors of this page are not certified medical professionals.