About the Kidneys

Most people are born with two kidneys in the body to clean harmful waste from your blood.

• This cleaning process is necessary to survive, but both kidneys are not always needed to live.
• Poor kidney function can affect your heart and increase risk of early death.

About Small Kidney Masses

Before we discuss your small kidney mass, it’s helpful to know a little about overall kidney health. Some patients have what is known as chronic kidney disease, which may impact treatment decisions regarding their small kidney mass.

Small kidney masses can also be called tumors. Like every other organ in the body, kidneys can grow tumors. There are two major types of tumors: benign or malignant. Malignant tumors are also called cancers. Benign tumors are growths that will not spread like cancers can.

What is chronic kidney disease?

• Chronic kidney disease is a condition when the kidneys do not work normally.
• To make the best treatment choice for your small kidney mass, it is important to know if you have chronic kidney disease. If you’re not sure, you can ask your doctor or check recent health records.
• Chronic kidney disease is described in stages. Stages of chronic kidney disease are mild, moderate, or severe. Severe means that the kidneys have very little normal function left.
• Each stage also is described using range of numbers for kidney function, called the glomerular filtration rate, or “GFR.”
• As kidney function worsens, there is greater risk of death from kidney or heart disease.