Cancerbackup: Symptoms

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Symptoms of kidney cancer

Kidney cancers don’t always cause symptoms. It is becoming increasingly common for kidney cancer to be diagnosed by chance when people are having scans done for some other reason. The kidney cancers found in this way are often small and because of this don’t cause any symptoms.If there are symptoms, these may include:

  • Blood in the urine. This is the most common symptom of kidney cancer. It may come and go, but, if you ever see blood in your urine you should always get it checked out.
  • Painful spasms in the ureters or the bladder caused by blood clots.
  • A lump in the area of the kidney.
  • A dull pain in the side.
  • A persistent high temperature, night-sweats, tiredness and weight loss.

Most people with these symptoms won’t have kidney cancer. Other more common conditions such as an infection or stones in the bladder or kidneys are often the cause. But, if you develop any of these symptoms, it’s important to get them checked by your doctor. 


Content last reviewed: 01 November 2007
Page last modified: 25 January 2008

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