Just Diagnosed and Need Lots of Advice

My father who just turned 59 was just diagnosed yesterday with renal cell in the fourth stages.His left kidney has a massive tumor and the kidney is twice the size of a normal one. They also found multiple tumors in his liver. The lympnodes between his lungs have shown some areas as well.My Family is just devastated to say the least.The Oncologists believes this cancer has been inside him for possibly 3yrs. We have many questions how this got past his primary Doctor? My father had prostate cancer 3 yrs ago and went back regularly for the psa tests and went for his check ups. Last april he seen his doctor to complain of constant fatigue and had a pain in his side too. They did tests on his heart that came back fine but that was the end of the tests. I just can not believe he is in such bad shape.The positives are nothing in the head,lungs, or the bones. We have decided to fight this beast til the end and are praying for a miracle drug.We are going into Boston in a few days to start in some clinical trials. What should we expect ? This is just overwhelming.....Any names of Doctor's in the Boston Area that specialize in this type of cancer, or just any advice at this point would be nice. Thanks~

If your father is stage IV and there is no cancer in his bones, brain or lungs(most common places for kidney cancer to go), where are his mets? What type of kidney cancer does he have? Michael Atkins at Beth Israel in Boston is an oncologist who has lots of exprience treating kidney cancer that has spread beyond the kidney. There is an email support group specific to kidney cancer. See http://cancerguide.org/kofaq/.

I see you have already answered one of my questions (sorry, it's been a long day!); the mets are in his liver.

Thank You for the name of the Oncologist at Beth Isreal , That is where my father is being sent in a few days by the doctors we are dealing with now.