Further tests for kidney cancer

If your tests show that you have kidney cancer, you may have to have further tests. These show whether the cancer has spread and they help your doctors to decide on the best treatment. You may have one or more of the following tests.

Your doctor may ask you to have a chest X-ray to check your general health and to make sure you are fit enough to have particular treatments or surgery. It will also see whether any cancer cells have spread to the lungs.

You may be asked to have a CT scan (or CAT scan as it is sometimes called). This stands for Computerised (Axial) Tomography. This is a scan that takes a series of pictures of a part of your body and uses a computer to put them together. The CT scan can check the size and extent of the cancer in your kidney. It can also check for any spread of the cancer to other parts of your abdomen, your other kidney, or your  lungs. There is information about having a CT scan in the cancer tests section.

MRI stands for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. This type of scan uses magnetic fields to build up a picture of the inside of the body. An MRI scan can be done to check the size and extent of the cancer in the kidney. It can also check for any cancer spread. There is more about having an MRI scan in the cancer tests section.

Your doctor might ask you to have a bone scan to check whether any cancer has spread to the bones. This is uncommon with kidney cancer, but it can happen. The scan takes quite a while. You have an injection and then wait for a couple of hours before having the scan. There is information about having a bone scan in the cancer tests section.

Angiography and venography mean looking at blood vessels and blood flow. This is very important for planning surgery. Your surgeon may need to find out how close your tumour is to a major blood vessel in the kidney, for example. An angiogram or venogram outlines the blood vessels in and around the kidneys. It shows up any vessels that are being pushed out of place by a tumour. It can also show if there are any abnormal vessels growing on or near the tumour or if the kidney cancer has grown through the walls of any blood vessels.

You have this examination in the X-ray department. You change into a hospital gown and lie down on an X-ray table. Your doctor puts a thin tube called a catheter into a blood vessel in your groin. They gently push the tube up into the blood vessels in the kidney area.They then inject a dye into the tube that shows up the blood vessels on an X-ray. You may need to have a groin shave where the tube (catheter) will go in. After the X-rays have been taken, the tube can come out and a nurse will press on the wound site until there is no sign of bleeding.

You might still have an angiogram in this way. But these days, it is more common to use a CT scanner or an MRI scanner to show the blood vessels during the test. This is called CT angiography or MR angiography. You don't have to have any tubes put in for these tests, although you might have an injection of a dye into a vein in your arm or hand. The dye helps the blood vessels to show up more clearly on the scan.

Your doctor will ask you to go back to the hospital when your test results have come through. This is bound to take a little time, even if only a few days. You may feel very anxious during this time.

While you are waiting for results it may help to talk to a close friend or relative about how you feel. Or you may want to contact a cancer support group to talk to someone who has been through a similar experience. Look at the cancer organisations page to find organisations that can give you information and support.

If you want to find people to share experiences with online, you could use CancerChat, our online forum. Or go through My Wavelength. This is a free service that aims to put people with similar medical conditions in touch with each other.