re:confused

Hi:

My name is Nessa and my husband was diagnosed with kidney cancer last July and had his right kidney removed in November of 2008.  It has now metastisized to his lung.  He is just starting his treatment which is in pill form.  I am still confused as to what this is going to do.

Hi,

The tablet is likely to be a Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor such as Sutent or Nexavar. (As you stated a singular tablet it's likely to be Sutent as nexavar is usually 2)

If it is one of these & you'll need to check the packet, they are signal pathways that intend to stop the cancer tumours from getting signals to replicate & produce new blood vessels.

if it is one of these then you are in good hands as they are very good and have a high sucess rate in stabalizing the cancer.

I hope this helps, if the tablet is not one of these 2 then post it's name & i'm sure someone can give you advice.

Hi Ray:

Thank you for responding.  I am new to the site.  Just started yesterday so bear with me.  The initial cancer started in his right kidney and metastisized to the lung.  He just started taking his new (pill form) treatment yesterday.  The drug is called Sorafenib.  We go back in November for a check-up with his oncologist.  They are doing an MRI of his brain the 27th of this month and setting up a bone scan soon.

Hi.  I'm sorry about the cancer with your husband and you will  be in my prayers.

I had a kidney removed in 2007 and told there was a good chance there would be no return.  It was diagnosed as clear cell renal cell carcinoma.  I was monitored with CT scans regularily for the past two years and nothing was showing.  However on May 30 of this year my humerus bone (upper arm) broke while lifting a small bag of mulch and it was diagnosed that I had a return of the RCC in the bone.  My oncologist then diagnosed it as Stage IV RCC.

 I have just started a regimine of 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off on a relatively new drug (according to all I have read) - Sutent.  They say the side effects are not pretty but I have been lucky so far and have not experienced too bad side effects.

 What all this means (at least according to my doctors) is that the RCC is a vascular disease - meaning that it travels through the blood stream and can go anywhere in the body but most of the information I have read is that it usually ends up in the lungs, brain, or bone (mine). 

The Sutent reacts in two ways - proliferation & angiogenisis.  Proliferation slows the growth of cells.  Since almost all chemo has no ability to slectively attack cells, it will also slow the growth of normal cells so infection of any kind is important to avoid.  Angiogenisis on the other hand takes away the source of nutrition of the tumor - won't let a blood supply to the tumor start - thereby cuts off the growth of tumors.

The problem with RCC is that it is a cellular cancer (as most are) and therefore very difficult to detect at the cellular level since most detection is done through MRI, CT scans, bone scans, etc which can only detect lesions or tumors.  This means that to know the cancer cells are present is next to impossible and thats the reason for the type of treatment your husband is probably on because with the medication constantly in the blood stream, it is constantly fighting the cancer cells.

I should tell you that I am certainly not a doctor but there is a lot of information out there but your best source of information is your doctor and if you are not sure you are getting the information you need, you might seek a second opinion from another doctor. 

 I hope this helps and may God be with you and your husband.

thank you for your response to my message.  it is very helpful talking to someone else who is experiencing the same sort of things.  I am so sorry that you have to go through this.  cancer of any kind is so horrible but when it hits close to home it is so scary and mind boggling.

you are also in our prayers--hang in there and keep your chin up.  we don't know what will happen on down the road but we will face whatever comes our way and deal with it the best way we can.

my husband is scheduled for an MRI of the brain on the 27th of this month and will be receiving a bone scan soon.  He had an MRI of his liver a couple of weeks ago.  We are still waiting on the results from that.

Take care and God Bless

Vanboody