Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer

Many kidney cancers, especially in early stages, cause no symptoms. Many people only find out they have early-stage kidney cancer because they had imaging tests—tests that produce pictures of the inside of your body—for some other reason.

As it grows, kidney cancer may cause one or more of the following symptoms:

• Blood in the urine. This is often blood that you can see with the naked eye. But sometimes it's present in microscopic amounts, so the urine has to be tested to find the blood cells.
• A lump that can be felt in your belly or in your side.
• Pain in the side or the back.
• Unexpected weight loss.
• A fever that keeps coming back.
• Reference Anemia Opens New Window.
• Extreme tiredness.

Kidney cancer that has spread to other parts of the body will cause different symptoms, depending on where it has spread. For example, cancer that spreads to the lungs may cause coughing and shortness of breath. Cancer that spreads to the bones may cause bone pain.

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