Q & A
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Q: You asked, "Can renal cell carcinoma travel to the brain?"
A: it spreads to: local lymph nodes and inferior vena cava, lungs, bones, skin, liver and brain.
Q: You asked, "How do brain tumors start?"
A: a cancer cell breaks off from the tumor in the kidney and travels via the blood stream to the brain where it implants and begins to divide.
note: the cells that this brain tumor came from are renal-cell-cancer cells, not brain cells. the treatment of this cancer is therefore different than the treatment for a primary brain cancer such as a glioblastoma.
Q: You asked, "What is the survival rate?"
A: when kidney cancer spreads to the brain, that is classified as stage IV. cancers are staged from I (no spread) to IV (spread to a distant organ). stage IV kidney cancer has a 5-year survival of 20%.
General Information About Renal Cell Cancer:
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Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) represents about 2-3% of all human malignancies. There are approximately 30,000 new cases of renal cancer diagnosed per year, resulting in approximately 12,000 deaths. Men are more commonly affected than women in a 2:1 to 3:1 ratio. Metastatic disease at presentation varies with the patient population but typically occurs in 23-33%. The most common sites of distant metastases in descending order are the lung, bone, skin, liver, and brain.
What causes the renal cells to become cancerous is not known. A history of smoking greatly increases the risk for developing renal cell carcinoma.
Approximately 33% of cases present in Stage I, 10% in Stage II, 25% in Stage III, and 33% in Stage IV.
Median 5-year survival rates are 73% for Stage I, 68% for Stage II, 51% for Stage III, and 20% for Stage IV.
References:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renal_cell_carcinoma. http://www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?doc_id=8284 My thoughts:
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I know that most of the above is not what you would have hoped to for. But you asked the questions.
Oncologists generally have a guide they use. If no one in the family including the patient asks about survival, don't rush to bring it up. When people are ready to know those answers, they will ask the questions.
On one hand it is nice to know the facts so you can prepare for what may be in the future. On the other hand, ignorance is bliss.
I visited Nebraska once. I remember how flat the land was. I remember cornfields everywhere. I remember everyone said "pop" instead of "soda." I remember every other sentence was "Go Big Red." To this day I have no idea what that means. I think it is a football reference.
I need some chocolate now. I am so sorry you had to come to this message board. Please be strong and don't forget to take care of yourself while you are taking care of your husband.
also, I think I answered another question of yours about your husband over on the brain cancer sub-forum.
-Amnia