10 March,2011 06:49 AM IST | | Priyanka Vora
On World Kidney Day, MiD DAY gives you a lowdown on the increasing trend of cancer among younger people
When a 4 cm-long tumour was spotted in one of the kidneys of a 24-year-old, doctors had little idea that the young man was suffering from cancer.
A 24-yr old man is one of the youngest patients who had to undergo an operation for kidney cancer
The reports took the patient, Chirag Zaveri (name changed), as well as doctors by surprise as the general conception is that those on the wrong side of 40 are more prone to kidney cancer.
Though medical experts said that such cases were occasionally diagnosed, they maintain that the risk of kidney cancer was rising among the youth.
Tata Memorial Centre, a premier institute in cancer treatment, receives at least 15 new cases of kidney cancer every month.
"The incidence of kidney cancer has grown in the last five years. Though it usually affects the elderly, we are getting an increasing number of young patients too.
But these patients are diagnosed with smaller tumours which is a good sign as they are easily curable," said Dr Ganesh Bakshi, uro-oncologist.
Take the case of Zaveri. He was diagnosed with a tumour that had covered his entire right kidney. The lump was taken out after a 45-minute operation and now he is is remission.
Uro-oncologist Dr Anup Ramani, who operated on Zaveri said, "He is the youngest patient I have ever operated on. It was difficult to believe that he had a cancerous tumour. Keeping his young age and in an attempt not to hamper his quality of life post operation, we removed his cancer-affected right kidney through laparoscopy."
Zaveri said, "I am lucky to have got out of the critical situation. The first time Iu00a0 noticed blood in my urine, I blamed it on the weather and exertion and forgot all about it.
However, six months later, I noticed blood again and this time decided not ignore the symptoms and consult a doctor."
Experts say that if not paid attention to, cancerous tumours have a tendency to spread to other organs and once the disease spreads to other parts of the body, it becomes incurable and the average life expectancy of the patient falls to two years.
"Blood in the urine is always abnormal and irrespective of having any health problem people should make it a point to undergo a CT scan once in a year, if possible on their birthday," suggested Dr Ramani.
Uro-oncologist Dr P P Rao of Jupiter Hospital, said, "Conventionally kidney cancers are diagnosed in patients above the age of 40. But there are rare cases when it is detected in youngsters also."
Don't ignore
THE following symptoms should not be ignored
A lump in the abdomen
Back pain felt just below the ribs that doesn't go away
Unexplainable weight loss
Blood in urine
Chronic fatigue
