Stage 1 Kidney Cancer Treatment

Kidney cancer treatment usually begins with surgery to remove the cancer.

Stage 1 kidney cancer treatment. When a patient is diagnosed with kidney cancer in this early stage we often don t need to treat it right away. This type of surgery involves removing only the tumor and a small part of the surrounding tissue. In stage 1 the cancerous kidney will probably be removed and follow up therapy might not be necessary. This is often the treatment of choice in tumors up to 7 cm a little less than 3 inches if it can be done.

Stage 3b means kidney function is between 30 and 44 percent. Since tumors caused by stage 1 cancer are usually still small doctors may perform a partial nephrectomy. It can be used by itself after at least one other treatment has been tried or it can be used with certain immunotherapy drugs like pembrolizumab or avelumab as the first treatment for people with advanced kidney cancer. The most common treatment for stage 1 kidney cancer is surgery.

Instead many of my patients choose an option called active monitoring for their kidney cancer as opposed to surgery or other treatments. There are two common approaches. If you are older or have significant medical problems it may be safer to first carefully watch the cancer with multiple scans and multiple visits to the cancer specialist. According to the american cancer society s publication in general about 73 percent of people with kidney cancer live 5 years or more after the first diagnosis this is quite awesome.

Stage 3a means your kidney is functioning between 45 and 59 percent. The kidneys aren t filtering waste toxins and fluids well and. The seer database however does not group cancers by ajcc tnm stages stage 1 stage 2 stage 3 etc. If the cancer has spread beyond the kidney additional treatments may be recommended.

It seems that the treatment plan has developed in recent years which may turn into a better outlook for patients now being diagnosed with this cancer. For cancers confined to the kidney this may be the only treatment needed. The chances for recovery are good. Radical nephrectomy removing the entire kidney.

The cancer has spread outside the kidney to nearby structures or lymph nodes. Together you and your treatment team can discuss your kidney cancer treatment options. Instead it groups cancers into localized regional and distant stages. There is no sign that the cancer has spread outside of the kidney.

These cancers are usually removed with surgery when possible. Axitinib is taken as a pill twice a day. It may seem strange but for some people with small stage 1 kidney cancers the first best treatment is often observation or active surveillance.