West Lothian kidney cancer survivor urges others to check symptoms as charity warns diagnosis standards 'falling short'

A West Lothian man who survived kidney cancer has urged others to check for symptoms after a charity warned of delays to diagnosis.

Kidney Cancer Scotland said it believed misdiagnosis occurs in a quarter of cases, and may lead to late diagnosis, which reduces the chance of successful treatment.

A survey by the charity’s sister organisation, Kidney Cancer UK, of kidney cancer patients across all four nations found 30 per cent of respondents waited more than 84 days between seeking medical help and getting a diagnosis, and almost half of cases were discovered when a patient was being investigated for a different condition.

David Brownlees, 44, from West Lothian, first experienced symptoms in October 2019, but was not diagnosed with kidney cancer until three months later.

David Brownlees, from West Lothian.

Mr Brownlees, who had stomach pains and fatigue, was initially diagnosed with diverticulitis, but after this did not clear up with medication he was referred to Edinburgh’s Western General Hospital for an ultrasound and then CT scan.

He went through an operation to remove his kidney, and then later began immunotherapy treatment after the cancer spread to his lungs.

This has been successful, and since January 2021 he has been free from signs of the cancer.

David Brownlees has had no sign of cancer since January 2021.

Grenville Oades, Kidney Cancer Scotland ambassador and consultant urological surgeon at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said diagnostic standards were falling short, despite kidney cancer being the seventh most common cancer in Scotland.

“Data from the report proves that many kidney cancer patients are experiencing at least one symptom of the disease, and yet a quarter of cases are still being misdiagnosed,” he said.

“Kidney cancer is survivable, but not if you catch it too late. For that reason, it is critical that we continue to raise widespread awareness of the signs and symptoms that can be associated with kidney cancer in Scotland, so that we can greatly improve the number of cases we diagnose, and the speed in which we diagnose them.”

Kidney Cancer UK said symptoms possibly associated with kidney cancer include fatigue, long term back or side pain, and blood in urine.

"Education around the disease is one of the best methods of prevention, so we are urging people to look out for the symptoms associated with kidney cancer,” said CEO Nick Turkentine.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.