Examination of the urine for blood (hematuria) is used for detecting early lesions that can be surgically removed. Ultrasound screening of the kidney, which is used in some countries, would be more accurate but is not cost-effective. Intravenous pyelography (IVP) and CT scans are used only in the diagnostic work-up to discover the cause of persistent and unexplained symptoms such as abdominal or flank pain, anemia and fever. Better screening procedures will have to await a simplified and less expensive urine or blood test using kidney cancer specific monoclonal antibodies . Such tests should soon be available.
