Renal cell carcinoma, like so many other forms of cancer, is known for its long latency period. There are basically no early warning signs which must in large part be attributed to the existence of a second functional kidney. In my case for instance, my left kidney was completely consumed by a large mass and basically in the process of dissolving, however since my right kidney was perfectly fine, I did not encounter any symptoms of renal cell carcinoma up until the point I peed blood. According to the pathology report, my kidney cancer could have been as old as 20 years already. And this explains why a high proportion of patients don't encounter any early warning signs of bone metastases in renal cell carcinoma. Which unfortunately results in a situation of bone metastases being already present at the time of diagnosis.

Most commonly, RCC (renal cell carcinoma) metastasizes through the veins and form by the bones, in the lung, liver and brain. Today's modern imaging devices allow to earlier detect a metastatic dissemination than in the past. But again, since the patient usually doesn't encounter any symptoms, he has no reason to get a scan done.




Not too long ago, patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma of the bones had a rather poor outlook on survival. This was due to the fact that the traditional treatment options, including radiation therapy had only very limited success treating later stages of kidney cancer.
The data that was collected over the past two decades indicated that surgery, the removal of the mass alongside its surrounding tissue, was a viable renal cell carcinoma treatment option to improve the quality of life of patients.

The vast majority of patients with renal cell carcinoma metastasis does not need a surgical procedure. Primarily, the goal of a surgery is to control the local tumor by retaining the patient's quality of life to the extent possible. With that being said, surgery is not a guarantee that the kidney cancer will never come back. Further to that, the outcome may result in the patient experiencing an increased amount of pain, need for follow up surgery and significant functional impairment.

Signs of bone metastases in renal cell carcinoma may in extreme cases require the amputation of an extremity. For the majority of patients with RCC bone metastases, a successful surgical intervention will result in pain relief, local tumor control and satisfying functional outcome.