After kidney cancer treatment

Two things run in parallel after kidney cancer: watching for recurrence, and protecting kidney function over decades. The second is easy to neglect because it produces no symptoms until late — and it is the part most affected by ordinary decisions like which painkiller you take.

• Blood tests for kidney function at intervals — ask what your baseline is and who monitors it long term.
• Blood pressure control is the single most important thing you can do for a remaining kidney. Ask for a target and check it regularly.
• Avoid regular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen and naproxen unless your team has said otherwise. Ask which painkillers are safe for you.
• Stay well hydrated, and be careful with dehydration during illness, heat or hard exercise.
• Tell any doctor or radiology department that you have one kidney — it affects drug doses and the use of contrast for scans.
• Contact sports carry a specific risk with a single kidney; ask for advice rather than guessing.

• CT or MRI of the abdomen and chest at intervals based on stage and grade, typically most frequent in the first three years.
• Kidney cancer is unusual in that recurrence can appear late — years after apparently successful surgery — which is why follow-up often continues well beyond five years.
• Ask for your schedule in writing and who arranges each scan; this is a follow-up that commonly slips through the gaps once the early years pass.
• Report persistent cough, bone pain, unexplained weight loss or blood in the urine between appointments.

• Tyrosine kinase inhibitors commonly cause high blood pressure, hand-foot skin reactions, thyroid problems, diarrhoea and fatigue. Several persist while on treatment and settle afterwards.
• Thyroid function should be checked — an underactive thyroid is common and easily treated.
• Immune checkpoint therapy can cause effects that appear or persist after treatment ends, particularly hormonal — see immunotherapy late effects.
• If you are on ongoing treatment, living with cancer covers managing it over years.

• A minority of kidney cancers are linked to inherited syndromes, particularly with young age at diagnosis, multiple tumours or a family history. Ask whether genetic assessment applies — see genetic testing and family risk.
• Stopping smoking reduces the risk of a further kidney cancer, and helps blood pressure.
• Weight and blood pressure are the two modifiable factors that matter most here — see exercise after cancer.