What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer?

Not everyone experiences symptoms if they have a kidney tumor, especially in the early stages. Because the kidney is located deep within the body, small kidney tumors usually do not cause symptoms until they become larger.

Most kidney cancers are found when a person is being evaluated by a doctor for an unrelated problem. Other kidney tumors are not detected until the disease is advanced.

Sometimes a kidney tumor causes symptoms by squeezing, stretching, or invading structures near or inside the kidney. These symptoms may include:

• Pain in the abdomen or midback area
  
• Blood in the urine that you may or may not be able to see with the naked eye
  
  

Other symptoms that may occur with more advanced kidney cancer include:

• Rapid weight loss
• Appetite loss
• Fatigue
• Fever
• Sweats
• High blood pressure

If cancer spreads beyond the kidney, symptoms depend on which organ is involved. For example:

• Shortness of breath or coughing up blood - may occur when cancer is in the lungs
• Bone pain or fracture - may occur when cancer is in the bone
• Nerve (neurologic) symptoms - may occur when cancer is in the brain