The Kidney: An important Organ
An important step before a conclusive kidney cancer diagnosis can be made, is to determine whether other parts of the urinary tract are already effected by the cancer. Before we look deeper into the topic of kidney cancer and kidney cancer treatments, it's necessary to understand the anatomy and function of the kidney. Please keep in mind that I'm neither a cancer specialist nor an Urologist. I purposely tried to use plain English as supposed to stuff the information with scientific medical terms.
Everybody has two kidneys. They are located in the abdomen on either side of the spine and are about the size of a fist. They are surrounded by to layers of fatty and fibrous tissue which also enclose the adrenal gland, a “hormone maker”, located at the top of the organ. The kidneys are part of the urinary system and play an important role in filtering waste products out of the blood and turn it into urine. This job is carried out by little tubes, the nephrons. As the blood enters the kidneys, waste products such as toxic substances, ammonia, drugs (among others) and excess water are filtered out and turned into urine. The urine is being collected in a hollow space located in the middle of the kidney, called renal pelvis. From there it passes through two tubes called ureters into the bladder. An inportant step in investigating further and also to determine the next steps of the kidney cancer treatment, is to find out whether or not other parts of the urinary tract already show any signs of cancer. |
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