CancerCompass message board discussion started by mocity on 4/22/2008 http://www.cancercompass.com/message-board/message/all,23301,0.htm Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:00:00 GMT http://backend.userland.com/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ My Father was just diagnosed with Stage 4 RCC.  After blood in his urine we found out he has kidney cancer that has mestastised.  We had tests run and now we are deciding on the best treatment. The doctor mentioned Sutent. mocity Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Sutent seems to be the first course of action.  If your father does not tolerate it well or it doesn't work, they move on to Torisel.  As awful and overwhelming as this all feels right now, we all need to be thankful for the recent advances.  Neither of these drugs was available a few years ago and now there are options. My mum was one sutent for ~12 months and is now on Torisel and doing really well 16 months after the diagnosis.  I think the thing that is helping her most is making sure she has a life beyond being a cancer patient.  She can't do everything she used to (gets tired easily, doesn't want to go anywhere where there are crowds and she may catch a cold, can't travel as she would like because of weekly infusions) but she is still very social and involved in a lot of activities.  We try to find the humour in all of this - like when the courses of sutent turned her hair grey followed by a dark stripe for the time she was on break, her hair looked like a racoon tail (you could literally count the number of cycles based on the 'rings' on her head). Good luck stimpy Tue, 22 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Does your mother have a metastasis?  My dad has stage 4 RCC with mets to the lungs.  His tumors have grown and increased in number despite treatment with Sutent.  He start Torisel on Thursday and I am praying non-stop that this works and am happy to read a story of Torisel working.  Good luck to you and your mom. Tina christina18 Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Yes, the has mets on lungs and bones.  She has her first scan since starting Torisel in a couple of weeks. stimpy Wed, 23 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT So sorry about your dad, I can relate to everything you are feeling!  My dad is getting ready to go to TX for his checkup.... it has been one yr since being diagnosed.  They started him on sutent in July of 07 and things have gone very well for him... til the last visit... there is a shadow on the right lung that they aren't sure about... next week this time we will know if the sutent is still working or not.  He has done very well this past year, but we may be facing a new drug soon.  Best of luck to you and yours, and our prayers are with you. Schelly Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thank you so much, and good luck to you as well. My prayers are with you... christina18 Thu, 01 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT My father has been fighting RCC since 03. He has had several surgeries and is now on Sutent. As effective as this drug may be it does have serious side effects. It will be long and hard struggle but do your best to keep him focused and help him not lose hope. I will keep him in my thoughts.  tidouble Fri, 09 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT Hey all, my dad is in the same boat. About 8 mounths ago he was found on a CT scan to have a kidney lesion, ironically it was found by an accident as he was having the Ct for a lung lesion found on a Chest x-ray for a bad cold that he had. The lung lesion was removed at the same time as the kidney. The lung was not cancer. YEAH. Unfortunitly the kidney was comform as CANCER. He at the time presented as Stage I kidney cancer which appeared to be contained to the kidney, just follow up requiered. Well about 6 mouth later and terrible shoulder/clavicle pain as was all being related to a previous work injury was on a work up to get his shoulder replaced was found on an MRI to have a lesion on his clavicle. Then the Ct came and lymph nodes enlarged near kidney removal site. Bone scan showed Ribs and clavicle area  metastatic . Biopsy of clavicle confirmed that it was kidney cancer. Now he is stage IV. It has not been a fun ride as they are angry that he was not offered any other options that just to watch and wait. I am in the field of Radian Therapy and there is no evidence of any treatment that is confirmed to help if treated prophylactic with Target agents. He was a stage I and standard of care is that it is just surgery. So I know that there are trials out testing this but no way to know. There are so many stages one goes through as I am seeing my father deal with. Anyway, he has had radiation to his shoulder region and ribs to help with pain. This has not helped much he is on pain meds round the clock.He is also on  Torisel now just finished his 4 treatment. We live on opposite sides of the US from each other so it is very hard for me. I hope that his spirits stay up as he is pretty positive as to the treatments. I will let you all know as soon as we know if it is helping.Bless all of you and be there for your parents as it means a lot to them.  Daddys CA Wed, 28 May 2008 00:00:00 GMT i completely understand the fear and uncertainty that you are feeling right now. 3 months ago my 55 year olf dad was also diagnosed with stage 4 RCC with mets to his lungs and liver.  it has been a painful roller coaster but after his first round of Sutent, the tumor on his kidney shrunk a centimeter.  he also seems to be tolerating the side effects pretty well, other than complete exhaustion. as daughters, no matter how old we are, we always feel like daddy's little girl.  i swear to God, i feel like i am 5 years old every time i am around him.  this is going to be tough for you, so if you ever need an ear, im here.  NeedsHope4Dad Sun, 08 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT Thanks a lot for your reply.  I'm so glad to hear that your dad is having results from the Sutent!!  My dad did not respond to the Sutent and was started in a clinical trial using Avastin and Toresil together.  We received CT results today that show the tumors in his lungs are smaller.  It's such a relief to know that there is hope because we all felt such despair after his last scan.  I just wanted to let everyone know of our experience.....today is a good day for us and I hope and pray everyone out there is getting good news as well! christina18 Wed, 18 Jun 2008 00:00:00 GMT