Surgery is generally the primary treatment for kidney cancer (also known as renal cell carcinoma) and transitional cell carcinoma. This holds true for both early- and late-stage cancers (there are few definable symptoms early on). In renal cell carcinoma, total removal of the kidney (radical nephrectomy) has been increasingly displaced by partial nephrectomy in order to achieve excellent disease outcomes while maintaining adequate renal function and reducing other postsurgery complications.
Kidney Cancer Treatment
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Surgery is the most common treatment for kidney cancer. The type of surgery used depends on the location and severity of the cancer. If the tumor is small, doctors may remove only the tumor and a small portion of the surrounding tissue. If the tumor is larger, doctors may perform a nephrectomy, which is the removal of the whole kidney and some surrounding tissue. In some cases, it may also be necessary to remove the adrenal gland or nearby lymph nodes. Regardless of how much of the kidney is removed, surgery may be performed using one of two methods. Sometimes, surgery may be an open operation, which involves making a large cut to access the kidney. In other cases, surgeons may choose to perform the surgery laparoscopically, which involves inserting a camera and small tools through several tiny incisions and accessing the kidney that way.
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Sometimes if someone has a single kidney with a very large tumor, we take out the kidney and actually remove cancer, while the kidney is out, then we reconstruct the kidney and put it back inside your body, in your groin, just like a kidney transplant. This is called an auto transplant. We don’t give patients cadaveric transplants for kidney cancer per se.
It’s rare that someone who needs a kidney removed has to go on dialysis or has significant renal failure to the point that he or she would be a candidate for a transplant. It does occur, but it is extremely uncommon. You really only need one-half to one-third of one good kidney to stay off dialysis or not need a transplant, so most of the time we’re able to accomplish this without renal failure. -
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The medications that are approved for kidney cancer are for those cancers that have already spread, for metastatic cancer. For localized cancer the best cure is through surgery or ablation.
If the tumor is rather large we might use a new class of drugs called VEGF inhibitors, which prevent the formation of new blood vessels. Even if the cancer hasn’t spread, there is some data that shows you can give these VEGF inhibitor pills for a period of three or four months and shrink the tumor, which may make the subsequent surgery easier. -
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I’m reluctant to give chemotherapy over other treatments when kidney cancer has spread but the person feels fine. On the other hand, if a patient has an aggressive cancer and is sick, having pain, and is losing weight, at this point chemotherapy is required and is quite effective. We can deal with the toxicities just like we do with treating other kinds of solid tumors.
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See All 2 AnswersKidney cancer is a potentially lethal disease that can be treated in various ways. The only available traditional cure was to remove the entire kidney with open surgery.
With medical advances, we can now remove just the kidney tumor using open, laparoscopic or robotic surgery or even single port surgery (LESS), thereby leaving the majority of the "good kidney" tissue behind, which has been shown to decrease cardiovascular problems.
Cryoablation and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) are needle based treatments that dont require open surgery at all. In cryoablation, the tumor is localized using CT or MRI, the needle(s) are placed precisely into the tumor and the tumor is then frozen and thawed for 2 cycles to lethal temperatures (less than -20 celcius). As can be seen in frostbitten toes and fingers, the tumor similarly dies and shrivels up over time.
The potential downsides are that cryoablation has been performed for <10 years, so we do not know whether the cancers will come back in 15, 20 years. You also require multiple repeated CT and MRI's to make sure the tumor is dead, and some patients do not like the idea of leaving the tumor inside the body, instead being more reassured with it being removed from the body surgically. -
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Riverside Cancer Care Center answeredDifferent types of treatments are available for renal cell cancer. Some treatments are standard, and some are being tested in clinical trials. A treatment clinical trial is a research study meant to help improve current treatments or obtain information on new treatments for patients with cancer. When clinical trials show that a new treatment is better than the standard treatment, the new treatment may become the standard treatment. Patients may want to think about taking part in a clinical trial. Some clinical trials are open only to patients who have not started treatment.
This answer is based on source information from the National Cancer Institute.