Tag Archive for: belly pain

What Are the Symptoms of Renal Medullary Carcinoma?

What Are the Symptoms of Renal Medullary Carcinoma? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

What renal medullary carcinoma (RMC) symptoms do high-risk patients need to be aware of? Respected expert Dr. Nizar Tannir shares common symptoms that can signal RMC and advice for patients to help ensure they receive urgent care when needed.

Dr. Nizar Tannir is a Professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

[ACT]IVATION TIP

“…if an individual who has sickle cell trait sees blood in the urine or they have flank pain, that those are warning signs, they need to seek medical attention, they need to contact their physician or go to a local emergency room or healthcare facility, and be checked. They can start with having an ultrasound or a CAT scan to really evaluate the kidneys, to look at the kidneys.”

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Related Resources:

What Is Renal Medullary Carcinoma?
How Is Renal Medullary Carcinoma Diagnosed
What Are the Challenges of Diagnosing Renal Medullary Carcinoma?

What Are the Challenges of Diagnosing Renal Medullary Carcinoma?


Transcript:

Cora:

For those who may be considered high-risk, what are the symptoms of renal medullary carcinoma?

Dr. Tannir:

RMC, is the most aggressive type of kidney cancer so as any kidney cancer, the symptoms relate to the tumor in the kidney, so there will be blood in the urine, that’s one symptom another symptom is pain, flank pain or abdominal pain, belly pain, those are the symptoms related to the, these are local symptoms related the finding of the tumor in the kidney, but if there is a spread of the cancer and RMC, the reason it is one of the most aggressive cancers any person can get, and the most aggressive kidney cancer type is because of its propensity to spread to organs, and, of course, if there is a spread of the cancer or RMC to organs, there will be symptoms related to the spread of the cancer to these organs, for example, if they cancer spread to the lungs, the patient or the subject, we have cough or shortness of breath, or chest pain, if it spreads to bone they have bone pain, they may have weight loss and fever, and these are called constitutional symptoms.

So fatigue, so these are symptoms related to advanced cancer as it is with any advanced cancer, but specific local symptoms related to RMC would be flank pain and or blood in the urine. These should be warning signs. So my activation tip is if an individual who has sickle cell trait sees blood in the urine or they have flank pain, that those are warning signs, they need to seek medical attention, they need to contact their physician or go to a local emergency room or healthcare facility, and be checked. They can start with having an ultrasound or a CAT scan to really evaluate the kidneys, to look at the kidneys. So this is an important activation tip for individuals who see, who experience or encounter any of those symptoms I just mentioned.


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How Is Follicular Lymphoma Diagnosed and How Does It Progress?

How Is Follicular Lymphoma Diagnosed and How Does It Progress? from Patient Empowerment Network on Vimeo.

Follicular lymphoma expert Dr. Jane Winter explains common symptoms, tests involved in diagnosis, and how the disease may progress over time.

Dr. Jane Winter is a hematologist and medical oncologist at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center at Northwestern University. More information on Dr. Winter here.

See More from The Pro-Active Follicular Lymphoma Patient Toolkit

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Three Key Steps for Newly Diagnosed Follicular Lymphoma Patients

Three Key Steps for Newly Diagnosed Follicular Lymphoma Patients

What Is Follicular Lymphoma? What Are the Symptoms?

What Is Follicular Lymphoma?


Transcript:

Laura Beth:

Dr. Winter, how is follicular lymphoma typically diagnosed? 

Dr. Winter:

So, most often, it’s because of a new lump or bump that a patient notes, perhaps a lump in the neck, but also increasingly these days, many individuals wind up getting CT scans. Belly pain for which they go to the emergency room or something to evaluate another diagnosis, maybe some blood in the urine related to a totally different issue. But CT scans often reveal, enlarged lymph nodes or lymph nodes that are borderline and of concern. 

And this will lead to investigation, ultimately, a biopsy, and a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma.  

Laura Beth:

How does follicular lymphoma typically progress?  

Dr. Winter:

So, to start with, most commonly, patients have low burden disease these days, but some adverse diagnosis will have very extensive disease, a big mass in the abdomen, disease in the chest, so, highly variable. For patients who begin with low burden disease, small lymph nodes that are not bothersome, we generally observe these patients. 

And over time, these lymph nodes may begin to grow, and sometimes slowly, sometimes more rapidly to the point where they cause symptoms or are of concern because they’re cosmetically unattractive. There are occasional times where it’s a lump in the neck that just results in too many inquiries from others. So, that’s when we start thinking about maybe it’s time to start some treatment. So, progression, enlargement, sometimes it’ll be the beginning of symptoms. So, most patients with follicular lymphoma, at least in North America, don’t generally have symptoms at presentation, but B symptoms.  

So, fevers, drenching night sweats, and by that, I mean sweats at night that lead to changing your T-shirt, changing the sheets or the nightgown, not the typical middle-aged woman with a hot flash. But, by drenching night sweats, we mean drenching. Unintentional weight loss. So, these are some of the symptoms that one can see, we call them B symptoms, we can see in patients with follicular lymphoma and other lymphomas as well that may signal progression.