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Can You Have Stage IV Metastatic Renal Cancer & No Pain?

Cancer will strike almost half the American population in their lifetime, and many hundreds of thousands will die from these destructive conditions, according to the textbook Human Anatomy and Physiology. Malignant kidney tumors often don't cause any symptoms and can silently develop into stage IV metastatic renal cancer.

  1. Renal Cancer

    • According to the American Cancer Society, 9 out of 10 kidney cancers are renal cell carcinomas, which are abnormal growths in the cell tissue surrounding the kidney's nephron tubes (the blood-filtering components). Growths can also form in the ureters, the tubes which drain filtered material from the kidney.

    Stage IV Diagnosis

    • Most cancers are diagnosed through imaging (MRI and CT), blood, and physical tests and labeled as one of five stages listed by the National Cancer Institute. Stage 0 means the cancer has not spread yet, while stages I-III indicate larger growth and some spreading to lymph nodes. Stage IV indicates that the tumor cells have metastasized, meaning that they have broken free of the tumor and have spread to other organs.

    Symptoms Besides Pain

    • According to the Mayo Clinic, the most common symptoms of a Stage IV kidney tumor are blood in the urine, fatigue, weight loss, and the occasional fever. Unfortunately, malignant kidney tumors often don't cause symptoms until Stage III or IV.

    Pain Symptoms

    • According to the University of Virginia Health System, if a Stage IV kidney tumor is going to cause any pain, it will be at your back just below the ribcage, where the kidneys are positioned in the body. You may also experience general pain in your side. It is certainly possible that the pain will be more of a dull pressure, and it may also be completely absent, because symptoms will vary from person to person.

    Treatments

    • Removal of some or all of the affected kidney and surrounding tissue can be an effective way to get rid of the original tumor, but chemotherapy and radiation therapy may be necessary to destroy metastasized cells in other parts of the body. The National Cancer Institute lists more treatment information.

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