How is kidney cancer treated?
Treatment of kidney cancer depends on the type of tumor and the stage of the disease, as well as the patient’s age and overall health. Surgery is the primary form of treatment for kidney cancer.Most often, a procedure known as radical nephrectomy is done. Radical nephrectomy involves removal of the entire kidney, as well as the adrenal gland (a gland that rests on the upper end of each kidney) and some surrounding fatty tissue and nearby lymph nodes.
Since convential chemotherapy and radiatoin are not effective for kidney cancer, the only curative therapy involves surgical removal of the tumor. Historically the standard treatment for kidney cancer was radical nephrectomy (removal of the entire kidney and adrenal gland). Today the adrenal gland is only removed for tumors that are located in the upper portion of the kidney or involve the adrenal gland. Tumors that are smaller than four centimeters can usually be traeted with a partial nephrectomy (removal of the portion of the kidney that contains the tumor while leaving the remainder of the unaffected kidney intact). For patients with a solitary kidney or kidney failure, a partial nephrectomy is performed for tumors larger than four centimeters when a sufficient amount of the unaffected kidney can be preserved. Today most radical nephrectomies are performed by a laparoscopic technique. During laparoscopic procedures, surgeons operate using a camera and instruments placed through sma
A. The main treatment is surgery to remove the affected kidney. We have two kidneys and people can live perfectly well with the one remaining kidney. In a few cases, where the tumour is very small, it is possible to remove only part of the affected organ. If the cancer has spread outside the kidney, the surgeon may remove other tissue. In some cases, when the tumour is too large to remove, the surgeon may block off the blood flow to the tumour, which will cause it to shrink. In some cases, radiation treatment will be used in addition to, or even instead of, surgery. In some cases, treatment with hormones, interferon or interleukin can be used.
Surgery (discussed below) is the primary treatment for kidney cancer. However, based on the cancer stage, your general health and age, your doctor will develop a treatment plan that best fits your needs using one or a combination of methods. Below is a list of other possible cancer treatments. It is not meant to be exhaustive, but will give you an idea of the treatments available. Arterial embolization: A procedure that blocks the main blood vessel for the kidney and shrinks the tumor. Sometimes it is used as a treatment for patients who cannot have surgery, or before surgery to reduce bleeding. Chemotherapy: Drugs that are used to kill cancer cells. Although helpful in the treatment of many other cancers, kidney cancer does not always respond well to chemotherapy. Radiation therapy: X-rays or other high-energy rays to kill cancer cells and shrink tumors. Although radiation therapy may be used to try to reduce metastasis, kidney cancer can be resistant to radiation therapy. Immune ther
