To diagnose kidney tumors, doctors need information about the types of cells that make up the tumor. The symptoms, diagnostic tests, and methods of treating clear cell sarcoma of the kidney (CCSK) are quite similar to those of Wilms tumor, another kind of kidney tumor. Wilms tumor is the most common kidney tumor of childhood, followed by clear cell sarcoma of the kidney.
Characteristics of clear cell sarcoma include:
- • A much more widespread pattern of metastasis (spreading to other areas of the body), which may include one or more of the following:
- Lungs
- Brain
- Bone
- Soft tissues
- CCSK tends to grow and metastasize slowly.
- CCSK is associated with a much higher rate of relapse than Wilms tumor.
- The prognosis for clear cell sarcoma of the kidney is not as good as it is for Wilms tumor.
- The treatment for CCSK is similar to the treatments for the more advanced stages of Wilms tumor.
For additional information about the diagnosis and treatment of tumors of the kidney, see the section on: Wilms tumor.
-Deb Shade, RN, CPON, CureSearch NCCF
Reviewed by
CureSearch.org Editorial Board
September 2006