Father Has Large Mass on Kidney

Eclipse255

My father is 85 years old. In 2015, a scan revealed that he had a 2.5cm cyst on his right kidney. Since then, he had yearly scans done to monitor the growth. Thankfully, it did not grow. However, during the pandemic (2 years), he did not have any scans done. Two months ago, he had an ultrasound done and it revealed a 9cm mass on his right kidney. A month later, he had another CT scan, and it had grown to 11cm. The tumor is contained, it has not spread to any other organs. He does not have any symptoms, but a blood test revealed hematuria (microscopic) in his urine. The doctor told us that due to the size of the mass, he is 90% certain that the tumor is malignant. We are confused. How could he have a tumor on his kidney for more than seven years, and it has not spread to other organs, with it being so large. We asked the doctor if there is a chance it could be benign (oncocytoma). But he is not too confident that it is. My father will be having a biopsy done this Monday to see if it is malignant or benign. We don’t understand how he could have a tumor for so many years and not have it spread, that is the reason we are optimistic it is benign. We realize that it could be wishful thinking on our part.

Deanie0916

Hi sorry you and your father are going through this. I had a large tumor on my kidney. I had the whole kidney removed. My urologist said the tumor had been there for years. Mine ended up being Renal Clear Cell carcinoma, a fairly common kidney cancer. I hope your father's results are benign! Please keep us updated.