Patient Pathway

Kidney cancer is diagnosed and discovered in many different ways. It is a common occurrence that kidney tumours are discovered unexpectedly during scans for other medical problems. However, sometimes doctors search for a while and may use several different tests and imaging techniques to discover the source of worrying symptoms.

Tests and imaging results will be used to form a diagnosis. If you are diagnosed with kidney cancer, these results should provide the medical team and yourself with the stage of your tumour (how large the tumour is and how far it has spread) and your treatment plan will be based on this. Imaging techniques can also be used to view the progress of your treatment, with the hope that tumours will reduce in size (if they haven’t been removed) and not spread. You may have your treatment adjusted several times through your journey and receiving scans will be vital for monitoring this.

Downloadable information: The imaging and test charts aim to give you further information about why doctors do these tests and scans, allowing you to see both their limitations and how they aid clinical decisions. This information will help you prepare for any procedure you may require.

Download Imaging Chart

Download Test Chart