Back Pain as a Symptom of Kidney Cancer? Here's the Explanation from a Doctor

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JAKARTA - When someone suddenly feels unusual pain in the middle or lower back, many people immediately look for various possible diseases on the internet. One that often comes up is kidney cancer. However, in fact, the possibility of back pain caused by kidney cancer is very small.

Back pain is indeed one of the most common reasons people go to the doctor. But according to urologist Dr. Eric Kauffman from the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, most cases of back pain have nothing to do with kidney cancer.

"Kidney cancer usually does not cause clear symptoms. Many cases are actually found accidentally when a person undergoes an examination or scan for other health problems," said Dr. Eric, quoted from the Roswell Park website on Saturday, March 14, 2026.

The most common symptom of kidney cancer is the presence of blood in the urine. Even so, this symptom is actually not very common. In addition, back pain is rarely a sign of kidney cancer because the kidneys do not have pain receptors like those in the skin or muscles. This means that when something happens in the area, the body does not always feel pain.

"The appearance of blood in the urine does not always mean that a person has kidney cancer. This condition can also be caused by various other diseases, including bladder cancer or other health problems in the urinary tract," said Dr. Eric.

Therefore, if someone sees blood in the urine, they should immediately see a doctor for further examination. In many cases, blood in the urine is not caused by cancer. However, examination is still important to determine the cause.

In some cases of kidney cancer with larger tumor sizes, blood in the urine can be more easily seen. However, this also depends on the location of the tumor in the kidney. If the tumor is near the middle of the kidney where urine is collected, blood can appear in the urine even if the tumor size is small.

Conversely, if the tumor is on the edge of the kidney, the tumor can grow quite large without causing blood in the urine.

Although kidney cancer usually does not cause pain directly, a person may feel pressure or pain in the back if there is a blockage of urine flow from the kidneys. This blockage can occur due to blood clots that block the flow of urine.

The pain can be similar to the pain caused by kidney stones that block the urinary tract. Blood clots in the urine itself can form when the urine contains blood.

In the past, some information said back pain could be a symptom of kidney cancer. This is because very large tumors can suppress or inhibit urine flow, causing discomfort in the back. However, this condition is actually very rare.

Previously, there was also the impression that people with kidney cancer could feel lumps on the side of the body. However, today the kidney tumors that are found are generally still small in size, on average only the size of a large strawberry. Even tumors as big as a grapefruit are often not palpable from the outside because the position of the kidney is quite deep in the stomach and protected by a thick back muscle.

Usually a tumor has to be very large to be felt from the outside, and it is more likely to be felt from the front of the body, not from the back.

About half of kidney cancer cases are found accidentally when they are small in size. At this stage, the disease is usually still very likely to be cured with treatment.

If a tumor is found in a larger size, the success rate of treatment remains quite good. Currently, only about one in five patients have had cancer spread outside the kidney when they were first diagnosed.

Kidney cancer also tends to develop more slowly than some other types of cancer. In cases of small tumors, doctors often choose to monitor their development first rather than immediately taking aggressive action.

This approach is called active surveillance. Doctors will monitor the size of the tumor, its growth rate, as well as other changes that may indicate the need for treatment. In this way, many patients can avoid treatment that is not actually necessary and also avoid the side effects of therapy.

Like many other types of cancer, there are several factors that can increase a person's risk of kidney cancer. Some of them are overweight, smoking habits, high blood pressure, and increasing age. Therefore, maintaining a healthy body weight, quitting smoking, and controlling blood pressure can help reduce the risk of this disease.

In the end, although back pain often makes people worry, the condition is rarely a sign of kidney cancer. If you experience unusual symptoms, the best step is still to consult a doctor so that the cause can be known for sure.