When To Get Medical Advice
See a GP if you have symptoms of kidney cancer.
Although it’s unlikely you have cancer, it’s important to get your symptoms checked out.
The GP will ask about your symptoms and may test a sample of your urine to see if it contains blood or an infection.
If necessary, they may refer you to a hospital specialist for further tests to find out what the problem is.
How Does Ccrcc Form
Scientists are always working to understand how cancer forms, but it can be hard to prove. Because ccRCC can run in families, we know that changes in the VHL gene are important in causing ccRCC. The VHL gene is also changed in ccRCC from people without a family history of Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome. Scientists have learned a lot about what the VHL gene does in the body. This has given scientists clues about treatments to try for ccRCC.
How Is Kidney Cancer Treated
Treatment depends on the type of cancer, the stage, and grade of the tumor, and the patient’s age and overall health.
Surgery is the most common treatment for kidney cancer. Several surgical options may be considered, including:
- Partial nephrectomy: The surgeon removes just the part of the kidney that contains the tumor.
- Radical nephrectomy: The surgeon removes the whole kidney and some of the tissue around the kidney. Some lymph nodes in the area also may be removed.
When one kidney is removed, the remaining kidney usually is able to perform the work of both kidneys.
Surgery is the treatment of choice for most stages of kidney cancer. For chemotherapy for kidney cancer, there are many relatively new agents that block the blood flow to the tumor and put it into remission. These medications are typically taken by mouth and are generally well tolerated. The other approach is to use medication that activates the bodys own immune system to fight the tumor.
Some people with kidney cancer participate in clinical trials. Clinical trials are research programs conducted with patients to evaluate new medical treatments, drugs or devices. Clinical trials also are being conducted on new chemotherapy drugs and on new ways to use biological therapy for patients with kidney cancer.
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Drug Therapy For Metastatic Kidney Cancer
The last 15 years have seen a dramatic surge in medications to treat advanced kidney cancer, from just two drugs that were only effective in a small percentage of patients, to over a dozen meds that combat cancer cells in different ways, often used in combination.
While for some patients, certain medications appear to get rid of cancer cells altogether, this type of response is rare. More often, people take these medicines until their cancer starts to progress again, then doctors switch to different therapies.
Since most of these meds are still so new, they havent all been compared to one other. There are a number of options for the first choice of medications and order to try. These decisions often depend on conversations between you and your doctor. But researchers are continuously learning more about how these drugs affect different people in clinical trials.
Its important to realize that nearly every medication for kidney cancer has been tested to treat clear cell renal cell carcinomathe most common kidney cancerand some, but certainly not all, have also shown to be effective in treating other types of cancer as well. If you have a less common renal cell carcinoma, doctors recommend seeing a specialist who has experience treating rare kidney cancers.
Prognosis And Survival Rates For Kidney Cancer
When someone is diagnosed with kidney cancer, their doctor will give them a prognosis. A prognosis is the doctors opinion of how likely the cancer will spread and the chances of getting better. A prognosis depends on the type and stage of cancer, as well as the persons age and general health.
In most cases, the earlier that kidney cancer is diagnosed, the better the chance of successful treatment.
If you have kidney cancer, your doctor will talk to you about your individual situation when working out your prognosis. Every persons experience is different, and there is support available to you.
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Risk Of Recurrence In The Opposite Kidney
This is a very common question asked by patients. Sometimes tumours can be seen in both kidneys at the same time and they are detected at the time of first assessment. Some tumours may appear in the opposite kidney after a period of time. This could be a spread from the kidney that was removed previously or a new tumour in the otherwise normal kidney.
Metastatic RCC
Although the majority of patients present with a localised tumour, in almost half of these patients the disease may spread. In nearly a third of patients, spreading is evident at the initial assessment. When cancer cells spread outside the kidney, treating the local tumour by removing the kidney is not usually effective. The only way of reaching dispersed cancer cells is by chemotherapy or by sensitising the body against the RCC . Traditional chemotherapy has shown negligible response rates. However, a number of new drugs have shown promising results.
Immunotherapy
Signal Transduction Inhibitors
Surveillance after Surgery
Surgery For Kidney Cancer
Surgery is used to treat most kidney cancers. There are many ways to do this surgery. Talk to your doctor about how the surgery will be done. Any type of surgery can have risks and side effects. Be sure to ask the doctor what you can expect. If you have problems, let your doctors know. Doctors who treat people with kidney cancer should be able to help you with any problems that come up.
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Signs And Symptoms Of Kidney Cancer
Most people with kidney cancer have no symptoms. Doctors find most kidney cancers when they are checking for something else. Signs and symptoms can include:
- blood in your urine this may be obvious, or the urine may look dark, rusty or brown
- pain in your lower back or side
- a lump in your abdomen
- constant tiredness
- unexplained weight loss
- fever .
Not everyone with these symptoms has kidney cancer. If you have any of these symptoms or are worried, always see your doctor.
The Stages Of Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancer staging relies on the TNM system. This system was created by the American Joint Committee on Cancer:
- T: Size and localized spread of the original tumor
- N: How much spread has occurred in lymph nodes located near the original tumor
- M: Metastasis outside of the kidney into other organs and distant lymph nodes
Stage 1: Stage 1 is the first stage of kidney cancer. When kidney cancer is found during stage 1, youll have the most optimistic five-year relative survival rate. A stage 1 tumor is smaller than 7 centimeters and has not spread outside of the kidney. There is no cancer in the lymph nodes and no metastasis.
Stage 2: In this stage, the tumor is larger than 7 centimeters, but still hasnt spread outside of the kidney.
Stage 3: Stage 3 is a more aggressive cancer. In this stage, the tumor has either spread into a large vein and nearby tissue, or it is a tumor of any size that has spread outside of the kidney into lymph nodes located nearby.
Stage 4: Stage 4 renal cancer has the least favorable prognosis. Kidney cancer is stage 4 if the primary tumor has entered the adrenal gland, located on top of the kidney. Kidney cancer may also be considered stage 4 if it is a tumor of any size and has metastasized to other parts of the body, including distant lymph nodes or other organs.
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What Is Kidney Cancer Again
Behind your gut sit two potato-shaped organs that filter your blood, make pee, and keep your blood pressure and red blood cell count in checkthese are your kidneys. If a solid mass forms inside these organs, then grows and spreads, its called a cancerous tumor. When tumors develop in the pipelines of the kidney that filter blood, the cancer is called a renal cell carcinoma , and thats what this guide will focus on.
There are a bunch of different renal cell carcinomas, depending on what the cancer cells look like under a microscope. The most common variety is called clear cell renal cell carcinoma , which shows up in about three-quarters of renal cell carcinoma patients.
Besides knowing what type of kidney cancer you have , youll also find out how far the cancer has progressed, or the cancer stage . When cancer cells spread and form tumors outside of the kidney, thats called metastasis, and is considered stage IV , or advanced kidney cancer.
Stages Of Kidney Cancer
- Stage I: The tumor is 7 cm across or smaller and is only in the kidney. It has not spread to lymph nodes or other tissue. .
- Stage II: The tumor is larger than 7 cm across but is still only in the kidney. It has not spread to lymph nodes or other tissue.
- Stage III: The tumor has spread to the major blood vessels the renal vein and inferior vena cava or into the tissue surrounding the kidney, or to nearby lymph nodes.
- Stage IV: The tumor has spread outside of the kidney to the adrenal gland , or to distant lymph nodes, or to other organs.
Tumors are also graded, which is a way of rating a tumor based on how abnormal its cells look. Tumor grading can also tell the doctor how fast the tumor is likely to grow. Tumors whose cells do not look like normal cells and divide rapidly are called high-grade tumors. High-grade tumors tend to grow and spread more quickly than low-grade tumors.
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Treatments For Cancer In Your Bones
Some treatments shrink the cancer. Others protect your bones from the damage the cancer can cause. And some therapies ease your symptoms to help you feel better.
Targeted therapy. These medicines go after substances that help cancer cells grow and survive. Theyâre designed to kill cancer without harming healthy cells.
Tyrosine kinase inhibitors target proteins that help cancer cells and their blood vessels grow. These drugs include:
Bevacizumab is another type of targeted therapy. It blocks a protein called VEGF, which helps tumors grow new blood vessels.
mTOR inhibitors target the mTOR protein, which helps cancer cells grow. They include everolimus and temsirolimus .
Immunotherapy. Also called biologic therapy, these medicines use substances made in a lab or by your body to fight kidney cancer. There are a few types:
- Interleukin-2
- Checkpoint inhibitors, such as nivolumab
Radiation. In this treatment, a machine beams high-energy X-rays to kill cancer cells inside your body. It can relieve pain in your bones. It also can prevent weak bones from breaking. If you already have a fracture, killing cancer cells with radiation will help it heal faster.
Surgery to remove cancer from your bone can relieve pain, prevent fractures, and make it easier for you to move around.
Drugs to strengthen bones. A few medicines can make bones stronger, and prevent pain and fractures.
What To Know About Breast Cancer Growth
Breast cancer occurs when normal cells mutate and multiply faster than usual. One cell divides to become two cells, then each of those cells divides to become four cells, and so on. The uncontrolled multiplication of cancer cells creates tumors within the breast tissue.
The speed at which a cancer progresses depends on the growth rate of the cancer cells. It is hard to estimate cancer growth because not all cancer cells multiply and divide at the same speed.
In most cases, breast cancer initially develops in either the milk ducts or the lobules, which are the glands that produce milk, before expanding into the breast tissue.
Breast cancer that develops in ducts or lobules can spread to the connective tissue. From there, it can spread to the surrounding lymph nodes.
Once in the lymph nodes, the cancer cells can enter the lymphatic system or the bloodstream, where they can move to other areas of the body.
One recent
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Chemo For Kidney Cancer
Chemo is the short word for chemotherapy which are drugs to fight cancer. The drugs may be given into a vein or taken as pills. These drugs go into the blood and spread through the body. They kill cells that grow fast, such as cancer cells and even good cells, like those in the gut and hair. Chemo is given in cycles or rounds. Each round of treatment is followed by a break. Chemo doesnt work well for kidney cancer, but it may be tried if other treatments dont work.
Side effects of chemo
Chemo can make you feel tired, sick to your stomach, or cause your hair to fall out. But these problems go away after treatment ends.
There are ways to treat most chemo side effects. If you have side effects, be sure to tell your cancer care team so they can help.
Treatments For Advanced Kidney Cancer Include:
Active Surveillance :
In some people in whom the kidney cancer has spread, the cancer might be growing so slowly that the right first option is to watch carefully. This is especially the case when the cancer has been discovered by accident. If the cancer starts to grow quickly or cause symptoms then active treatments will be recommended. A small percentage of patients might live without symptoms from the cancer for a very long time, sometimes years, so your doctor might advise you to observe for a period of time.
Surgery to remove cancer that has spread:
In a very small number of people, the cancer spreads to only one or two places if this is the case it can be possible to try to cut out all the metastatic cancers . Some patients can live a very long time in these circumstances, but it really only applies to patients where there is only one or two spots elsewhere and they can all be safely removed.
Surgery to remove cancer in the kidney:
If your health is otherwise good, there is evidence that removing the original cancer in the kidney improves survival and helps other treatments work better. This cytoreductivenephrectomy would be performed by your urologist .
Clinical Trials:
Radiation therapy:
Palliative care:
Alternative Therapies:
Complementary Therapies:
Targeted Therapy
Medications that block cancers growth
Immunotherapy with cytokines
Immunotherapy with checkpoint antibodies
Think treatment, think trial
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Questions To Ask The Doctor
-
What treatment do you think is best for me?
-
Whats the goal of this treatment? Do you think it could cure the cancer?
- Will treatment include surgery? If so, who will do the surgery?
- What will the surgery be like?
- Will I need other types of treatment, too?
- Whats the goal of these treatments?
- What side effects could I have from these treatments?
- What can I do about side effects that I might have?
- Is there a clinical trial that might be right for me?
- What about special vitamins or diets that friends tell me about? How will I know if they are safe?
- How soon do I need to start treatment?
- What should I do to be ready for treatment?
- Is there anything I can do to help the treatment work better?
- Whats the next step?
How Long Does It Take To Do A Nephrectomy Operation
This is a question patients commonly ask. I tell them that this can be highly variable â anything between 2-4 hours. The anaesthesia itself can take up to 30 minutes and positioning prior to the operation takes another 15-20 minutes. As modern anaesthesia is safe there is no need to hurry up the procedure as safety and correct surgical steps are the most important aspects of the operation.
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Other Aggressive Forms Of Kidney Cancer
Low grades of kidney cancer tend to be slow-growing, while high grades can multiply fast. The other types that are found to be more aggressive are papillary , chromophobe, medullary and oncocytic.
These variations of kidney cancer have a higher chance to metastasize, or spread, to other parts of the body. The most common places that kidney cancer can spread to are the lung and lymph nodes.
Side Effects Of Treatment For Kidney Cancer
All cancer treatments can have side effects. Your treatment team will discuss these with you before you start treatment. Talk to your doctor or nurse about any side effects you are experiencing. Some side effects can be upsetting and difficult, but there is help if you need it. Call Cancer Council or email to speak with a caring cancer nurse for support.
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How Fast Can Breast Cancer Spread
Metastasis occurs when breast cancer cells begin to grow in another body part.
It is hard to say exactly how quickly breast cancer can grow, including the timeframe, as the disease affects each person differently.
Cancer occurs due to mutations in human cells. Mutations do not follow normal, predictable patterns of cell division, so it is difficult to predict the progression.
Tumors appear when damaged cells replicate over and over to form a clump of abnormal cells. Breast cancer cells can break off and move through the lymph or blood vessels to other areas of the body.
If breast cancer cells begin to grow in another body part, this is called metastasis. Breast cancer is most likely to metastasize to the lymph nodes, lungs, and bones.
Regardless of the location of the new tumor, doctors still consider it to be breast cancer.
Breast cancer growth and its chances of spreading depend on the following:
What Is The Kidney Cancer Recurrence Rate
This will vary from person to person. Post-treatment in the UK, it is normal to have follow up appointments for up to 5 years. This is to check if any cancer has reappeared in the body so it can be treated early.
The frequency of these appointments will vary depending on your recurrence risk factor. Steps you can take for yourself to help minimise recurrence are:
- Maintaining a healthy diet containing fresh fruit, vegetables and fish
- Try to learn to relax with techniques such as meditation, or minimising other stressful areas in your life
- Try to stop smoking and cut back on drinking excessive amounts of alcohol
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