Recent figures have shown that the incidence of kidney cancer in England has increased by 30 per cent over the last decade and public health experts are concerned that there is a lack of awareness among the public of the key symptoms of the disease.
Blood in the urine is a major symptom in more than half of kidney cancer cases and other symptoms include a persistent pain below the ribs and stomach lumps.
Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England Professor Kevin Fenton says: “Receiving an early diagnosis increases the chance of survival for the 16,600 people who are diagnosed with bladder of kidney cancer every year in England.”
Surveys have shown that almost 30 per cent of people would wait and see if they spotted blood in the urine more than once before taking any action, potentially delaying diagnosis and reducing the chance of survival. When kidney cancer is diagnosed at the earliest stage the one-year survival rates increase to over 90 per cent.
The way that kidney cancer is managed has changed considerably over the last twenty years and there are now a range treatment options available.
Consultant Interventional Radiologist Dr Rowland Illing comments: “ With the advent of Interventional Oncology and tumour ablation, patients with kidney cancer now have access to a range of highly effective minimally invasive treatment options. However, early diagnosis is key to the success of these new treatments.
