The anti-renal cancer principle and indications of renal artery embolization

Kidney cancer is a common malignant tumor in clinical practice. Currently, surgical radical cure is the main treatment method. However, due to the hidden onset of kidney cancer, 25% of patients have lost the opportunity for surgery at the time of diagnosis. For patients with mid-to-late stage kidney cancer with local or distant metastasis who are not suitable for surgery, renal artery embolization is also a good treatment method.

Anti-cancer mechanism of renal artery embolization:

Renal artery embolization mainly uses anhydrous alcohol-iodized oil emulsion for intraductal embolization to treat renal cancer. Anhydrous alcohol can act on the target organ at the capillary level, causing tissue protein coagulation, vascular endothelial damage, blood cell stasis in small blood vessels, leading to permanent embolism. After embolization, symptoms are alleviated, tumor blood supply is interrupted, tumor size is reduced, hematuria disappears, pain is relieved, and complete tumor necrosis can be caused for most diseases. Iodized oil can delay the action time of anhydrous alcohol on target organs.

Indications for renal artery embolization in the treatment of renal cancer:

Patients who are unable or unwilling to undergo surgery can undergo renal artery embolization. Patients who undergo surgery can also undergo renal artery embolization to block the blood supply to the renal artery before surgery to reduce intraoperative bleeding and shrink the renal tumor, which helps with surgical resection and thus improves the surgical resection rate. In addition, renal artery embolization can also be used to treat renal bleeding caused by various reasons such as trauma, renal artery and vein, and arteriovenous malformations.