Prognosis?

Hi.  I was diagnosed last week with Renal Cell Carcinoma.  I have a 16.8 x 13.5 x 11.5 cm tumor on my right kidney.  The lymph nodes around it are inflamed, but may or may not be cancerous.  Follow up CT scans and bone scan don't show any tumors anywhere else in my body. 

I am forty-six years old, and I'll be having surgery next Monday.  I just want to know what to expect after the surgery.  How aggressive is this cancer?  If it hasn't spread to the lymph nodes, does it reappear elsewhere? 

I guess I'm looking for some hope here, but I don't want a false hope.  Can anyone help?  Thanks,

Wendy

Hi there! I had a tumour of similsr size to yours. 15 by 11 by 7cm.Had it removed on Jan 20 2009 and will be back at work on the 2nd of March but am feeling much stronger now. can even go shopping and cook now, which was unheard of 2 weeks ago. So recovery depends really on the individual. i am 30 years old. My tumour stage was 2 Fuhrman nuclear grade according to the pathologist and  Robson stage 1,sodespite it'ssize,it mansged to remain localised and this does have a plus with prognosis. but if you google renal cell carcinoma, you will be abl;e to find more information on prognosis. Yours seems like it hasn't spread to distant organs which is obviously a plu. they say stage 1 to 3 can be cured by nephrectomy, but yu keepup those checkups after surgery coz some have been knoen to have recurrence after as long as 13 years. i am not a doctor but just told yu what i've also researched! Stay positive and and all the best with your operation!

 

My RCC returned after 11 years.  I was stage 1, had not spread, totally encapsulated & I was "cured".  My kidney was removed.  I now have a secondary tumour outside of the lung & I am on my second round of Sutent & tolerating it very well so far.  Just stay strong, positive & be sure you are followed FOREVER!!!!  I was followed for the first 5 years.  And yes, there are people whose RCC has returned after a longer period, 20 or 30 years.  Best of luck & hoping all your reports come back clear.

Joanne

 

On 2/23/2009 more life wrote:

Hi there! I had a tumour of similsr size to yours. 15 by 11 by 7cm.Had it removed on Jan 20 2009 and will be back at work on the 2nd of March but am feeling much stronger now. can even go shopping and cook now, which was unheard of 2 weeks ago. So recovery depends really on the individual. i am 30 years old. My tumour stage was 2 Fuhrman nuclear grade according to the pathologist and  Robson stage 1,sodespite it'ssize,it mansged to remain localised and this does have a plus with prognosis. but if you google renal cell carcinoma, you will be abl;e to find more information on prognosis. Yours seems like it hasn't spread to distant organs which is obviously a plu. they say stage 1 to 3 can be cured by nephrectomy, but yu keepup those checkups after surgery coz some have been knoen to have recurrence after as long as 13 years. i am not a doctor but just told yu what i've also researched! Stay positive and and all the best with your operation!

 

Thanks for the encouragement.  That's our hope, that it remains localized and they can get it all out with the one surgery.  I go in March 2nd, a couple of days from now.  Gonna be out of the loop for a while.  Take care!

 

On 2/23/2009 Joanne I. wrote:

My RCC returned after 11 years.  I was stage 1, had not spread, totally encapsulated & I was "cured".  My kidney was removed.  I now have a secondary tumour outside of the lung & I am on my second round of Sutent & tolerating it very well so far.  Just stay strong, positive & be sure you are followed FOREVER!!!!  I was followed for the first 5 years.  And yes, there are people whose RCC has returned after a longer period, 20 or 30 years.  Best of luck & hoping all your reports come back clear.

Joanne

Is the tumor in your lung RCC?  I don't understand how a kidney cancer can wind up in other organs.  Wouldn't that be lung cancer?

RCC can metasticize or spread to other organs, usually brain, lung and bone.  When this happens you have renal cancer in the lung, not lung cancer.  The treatment needs to be for renal cancer , not lung cancer.  This could happen years later, even if the kidney has been removed.  The only way to be sure if this happened is with a biopsy.

 

On 2/25/2009 WendyS wrote:

 

On 2/23/2009 Joanne I. wrote:

My RCC returned after 11 years.  I was stage 1, had not spread, totally encapsulated & I was "cured".  My kidney was removed.  I now have a secondary tumour outside of the lung & I am on my second round of Sutent & tolerating it very well so far.  Just stay strong, positive & be sure you are followed FOREVER!!!!  I was followed for the first 5 years.  And yes, there are people whose RCC has returned after a longer period, 20 or 30 years.  Best of luck & hoping all your reports come back clear.

Joanne

Is the tumor in your lung RCC?  I don't understand how a kidney cancer can wind up in other organs.  Wouldn't that be lung cancer?

Different cancers spread to other parts of the body.  My first 5 years being followed after my kidney was removed was chest x-rays to be sure it had not spread to that area.  My tumour is between the lung & pulmonary artery.  And this was confirmed with a biopsy being done.

 

Hi there,

This is a crazy disease to deal with.  We have been told that RCc is a slow growing cancer.  I do know that it is aggressive in some cases, though.  My husband was diagnosed almost  7 years ago.  He had a radical nephrectomy and was diagnosed at stage IV.  He had a follow up surger two years later, and has gone through several treatment protocols since.  After his initial surgery, he developed pneumonia two weeks later.  BE SURE to do all of the post op breathing exercises you are told to do.  That helps prevent the pneumonia.  Don't push too hard, but also don't lie around for several weeks.  Gradually increase what you are doing as your doctor advises. 

The good news is that he is still here 7 years later and still doing mostly well. He has continued working and is almost finished with his Master's Degree, which was started after this began.

Blessings to you as you begin this.

]Wynette

 

 

 

 

On 2/25/2009 WendyS wrote:

Is the tumor in your lung RCC?  I don't understand how a kidney cancer can wind up in other organs.  Wouldn't that be lung cancer?

The problem with cancer is that it can and opften does spread beyond the organ in which it occurred.  When it spreads, say from the kidney to the lungs, treatment is based on the original type of cancer--it would be treated as kidney cancer, not lung cancer, which is treated differently.   Patholgists can tell the origin of cancers by examining a bit of the tumor.  It is extremely important to ascertain the origin of the tumor because tumors from different organs are best treated in different ways.

 

Hi wendy

thinking of you today as you go into syrgery!~ I am prayin for you , let us know how it goes! The pain will be bad to start with but it will get better!