Ernie Hudson health: Receiving a cancer diagnosis was the ‘most devastating moment’

As for rectal cancer, which Ernie also survived, symptoms may include:

• Blood in your pee – you may notice your pee is darker than usual or reddish in colour
• A persistent pain in your lower back or side, just below your ribs
• A lump or swelling in your side (although kidney cancer is often too small to feel)
• Extreme tiredness
• Loss of appetite and unintentional weight loss
• Persistent high blood pressure (hypertension)
• A high temperature
• Night sweats
• In men, swelling of the veins in the testicles
• Swollen glands in your neck
• Bone pain
• Coughing up blood.

Renal cancer, also known as kidney cancer, is often curable if found early.

“But a cure will probably not be possible if it’s diagnosed after it has spread beyond the kidney,” the NHS notes.

This, again, reinforces the key messaging that an early diagnosis saves lives.