| The treatment options of renal cell carcinoma vary | | | | may need to cut open these veins and to completely |
| from patient to patient?no two patients are exactly | | | | remove the cancer. The 5-year survival for stage III |
| alike, treatment and responses to treatment vary | | | | patients varies widely and is between 40% and 70%, |
| greatly. It depends on many factors, such as the | | | | depending on the local extent of the cancer. |
| tumor size and location, type of the RCC (Clear Cell | | | | |
| RCC, Papillary RCC, etc.), the general health state of | | | | Stage IV: |
| the patient. One of the most important factors is the | | | | Treatment of stage IV kidney cancer depends on |
| cancer stage. First of all, click to check this simplified | | | | how extensive the cancer is and on the person’s |
| stage form and you need to be sure about the | | | | general health. In some cases, surgery may still be a |
| cancer stage before continuing. | | | | choice. When one or a few metastases are present |
| | | | | and the surgeon considers it possible to remove |
| Stage I and stage II: | | | | them without serious side effects, an aggressive |
| Patients with stage I and II RCC often have their | | | | surgical approach to removing the kidney tumor and |
| cancers surgically removed by either removes parts | | | | these metastases may be beneficial. For cancers that |
| of the kidney or the entire kidney is called | | | | can’t be removed surgically (because of the |
| nephrectomy. Other than as part of a clinical trial, | | | | extent of the tumor or a person’s health), |
| additional (adjuvant) treatments such as targeted | | | | first-line treatment would likely be one of the |
| therapy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or | | | | targeted therapies or cytokine therapy, such as |
| immunotherapy after surgery for stage I or stage II | | | | Sutent, IL-2, and everolimus. |
| RCC are usually not recommended, as the benefit of | | | | |
| additional therapy has not been proven. | | | | For some patients, palliative treatments such as |
| Patients who are unable to have surgery because of | | | | embolization or radiation therapy may be the best |
| other serious medical problems are often treated by | | | | option. Surgery or radiation therapy can also be used |
| other local treatment such as cryoablation, | | | | to help reduce pain or other symptoms of |
| radiofrequency ablation, or arterial embolization. With | | | | metastases in some other places, such as the bones. |
| surgical treatment, the 5-year survival for stage I | | | | (How to relieve cancer pain) |
| patients is between 88% and 100% and 65% to | | | | Recurrent RCC |
| 75% for stage II. | | | | In rare cases, a patient will have a solitary site of |
| | | | | recurrence of RCC detected several years after |
| Stage III: | | | | nephrectomy. In these exceptional cases, surgical |
| Radical nephrectomy is the most common treatment | | | | removal of the solitary site of recurrence may be |
| option for stage III RCC. Sometimes, a patient will | | | | possible after extensive imaging tests have shown |
| have an arterial embolization procedure in attempt to | | | | no other evidence of cancer spread. Otherwise, |
| reduce the amount of bleeding during nephrectomy. | | | | treatment with targeted therapiesor cytokine |
| There is no distant metastasis in stage III, however | | | | immunotherapy will be recommended. Clinical trials of |
| if the cancer extends into nearby veins, the surgeon | | | | new treatments are an option as well. |