The treatment of renal cell carcinoma depends on a variety of different factors, including the stage of the disease, the age of the patient, his general health and other aspects. Usually, the appropriate treatment protocol is being planned by the patient and his team of doctors.

At this point, let me pause for a minute and emphasize on the importance of getting a second (or even third) opinion. When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, I wanted everything to be done and over with as quickly as possible. You could say I was actually rushing. My cancer was diagnosed by an urologist who had ordered me for a CAT-Scan. When the results came back and revealed a large mass in my left kidney, a cystoscopy was performed to see whether the cancer had spread or not.  Fortunately, it was still confined to the kidney, which had a major impact on the treatment for my renal cell carcinoma.

My urologist also happened to be a urological surgeon, however, he was not an oncologist. My family finally convinced me to go to New York Presbyterian to have my situation reviewed by an oncologist surgeon who is specialist and laparoscopic surgery. He actually confirmed everything that my urologist had told me. This is actually one of the few examples where doctor #2 confirmed what was assessed by doctor #1. For many other cancer patients, including my wife, the situation is different because the treating health care professionals didn’t agree with each other. And that’s tricky, because obviously the way how a cancer is being diagnosed has a direct impact on its treatment.

Back to the renal cell carcinoma treatment options. The most commonly used methods are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, biological therapy and hormone therapy. It ultimately comes down to what cell type your cancer is composed of and the factors that I mentioned earlier.


Kidney affected by Renal Cell Carcinoma


Standard methods for the treatment of renal cell carcinoma include:

  • Surgery — This is the most commonly used option. In the majority of cases, the whole kidney alongside the adrenal gland and connecting tissue and lymph nodes is being removed. That procedure is called nephrectomy. The second kidney will then take over for the missing on. However, the surgeon may decide to remove the part of the organ where the tumor is located.
  • Radiation — This treatment methods uses highly concentrated rays to target cancer cells. Radiation is usually being administered on an outpatient basis. This treatment can be highly effective, however, it also bears some side effects as the patient is being exposed to radiation, which according to many studies, can cause cancer. My wife refused radiation because her breast cancer tumor was located close to her heart and we did not want to take the risk of causing damages to the heart for obvious reasons.
  • Arterial embolization — This can be a very effective procedure prior to surgery. A gelatin sponge kind of material is injected to the main kidney blood vessel with the objective of depriving the tumor of getting oxygen and other substances that it needs to continue to grow. As a result the tumor will shrink.
  • Biologic Therapy — Also called immunotherapy. It is a form of treatment that uses the body’s natural ability (immune system) to fight cancer. Interleukin-2 and interferon are types of therapy used to treat advanced kidney cancer. Many people having biologic therapy stay in the hospital during treatment so that the side effects can be monitored. This is also referred to as immunotherapy, because the idea is to use the body’s immune system to fight the cancer. Two very common drugs that are being used are interleukin-2 and interferon.
  • Chemotherapy — The goal is to kill cancer cells by using special drugs. However, chemotherapy is usually not a viable option in the treatment of renal cell carcinoma.
  • Hormone Therapy — This is also a rather rare treatment option Used in a small number of patients with advanced kidney cancer. Some forms of renal cell carcinoma can respond to hormone therapy and therefore oncologist may consider this option in patient’s suffering from an advanced stage.
Please watch this inspiring video by Bob Gallner, a stage IV renal cell carcinoma cancer survivor:

Video Courtesy of Bob Gallner/Youtube