Advanced kidney cancer treatment in India with highest survival rates
Kidney cancer is the ninth common cancer that occurs in men and the fourteenth common cancer in women according to WCRF.
Detection of cancer itself is a matter of great concern. However, with the advance kidney cancer treatment in India the survival rates are also increasing.
Let me introduce you, one of our patients Becky from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Becky is a 48-year-old, project manager in a reputed MNC in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Backy is a father of 2 boys and a wonderful wife Lucy.
Three years back, Becky used to often felt tired while doing his daily routine work and also had lower back pain on one side. Becky went to the nearby doctor for a checkup and the doctor prescribed him some medicine and asked him to take some rest. Medicine lowered the pain but after some time the condition became the same.
One day Becky saw blood was coming out while he was urinating. He went to the hospital and met a urologist. The Urologist suggested doing a blood test, urine test, and ultrasound. Ultrasound reports detected an unusual lump in the kidney. The doctor suggested CT scan to Becky for further verification. Becky did the test and sadly, the tests confirmed that he had kidney cancer.
Becky and Lucy were both in shock after listening to the news of cancer. The doctor recommended visiting an oncologist for a further line of treatment.
Becky’s son Benny researched information regarding kidney cancer and the best possible treatment for it. While searching Benny got in touch with MedicoExperts for kidney cancer treatment in India and left his inquiry.
MedicoExperts patient care executive got in touch with Benny and Benny sent all the reports of his father to MedicoExperts to get the personalized treatment plan.
MedicoExperts also arranged the online video consultation for Becky with the head of the tumor board who is himself an uro oncologist. The doctor after discussing with his board prepared a tentative treatment plan and had one more call with Becky.
The doctor explained the treatment plan and also shared that Becky would go under thorough evaluation before zeroing down the treatment plan. Becky decided to come to India for the treatment.
After 15 days, Becky comes to India for treatment with his wife Lucy. Becky was admitted to the hospital immediately after arrival. As planned, a thorough evaluation including PET SCAN was performed. The investigations concluded that cancer was limited to the kidney only.
Surgery was needed to remove the kidney. The doctor told Becky three options for the surgery that was open, laparoscopic, and robotic surgery. After understanding all the options, Becky chose robotic surgery.
Surgery was performed and the infected kidney was removed successfully. The doctor also recommended a few cycles of chemotherapy after the surgery.
After completion of Chemotherapy, reevaluation was performed. The results were positive in favor of Becky.
Becky and Lucy were very happy with the outcome and thanked the doctors and MedicoExperts.
It could be your story as well.
Before understanding the different kidney cancer treatment options. Let’s understand what kidney cancer is.
Kidney cancer occurs within the cells of your kidneys. Your kidneys are two bean bag-like organs, each the size of your fist.
They are located behind your abdominal organs, with a kidney on either side of your spinal column.
What are the different types of kidney cancer?
Kidney cancer is more common in adults and accounts for approximately 85% of the cases. This kind of cancer develops in the proximal renal tubules which constitute the filtration system of the kidney. Each kidney has thousands of those tiny filtration units.
Kidney Cancer types are:
- Urothelial cancer: This is also referred to as transient cellular carcinoma. It makes up 5-10% of kidney cancers diagnosed in adults. Urothelial carcinoma starts in the region of the kidney where urine gets collected.
- Sarcoma: Kidney sarcoma is a rare condition. It is normally treated by surgery. However, sarcoma usually returns to the renal area or propagates to other parts of the body. Another surgical procedure or chemotherapy may be recommended following the initial surgery.
- Wilms tumor: Wilms tumor is better treated with radiation and chemo than other types of kidney cancer in conjunction with surgery. The outcome was a different approach to treatment.
- Lymphoma: Lymphoma can enlarge both kidneys and is associated with large lymph nodes, known as lymph node disease, in other parts of the body, including the neck, chest, and abdominal cavity. If lymphoma is a possibility, your physician can do a biopsy and suggest chemo instead of surgery.
Let’s understand the stages of kidney cancer.
Stage 1 is the lowest level of aggression and has the highest survival rate. The cancer tumor is relatively small at the early stage, so it is given a T1 designation.
At stage 1, the cancerous kidney is likely to be removed, and follow-up treatment may not be needed. The odds of recovery are good.
Stage 1 kidney cancer survival rate
The five-year survival rate for stage one kidney cancer is 81 percent. This means that out of 100 people, 81 people diagnosed with stage 1 kidney cancer will live more than five years after their initial diagnosis.
Stage 2 is more severe than Stage 1. In this stage, the tumor is larger than seven centimeters in diameter but occurs only in the kidney.
Stage 2 kidney cancer survival rate
As with stage 1, a stage 2 cancer kidney is likely to be removed and follow-up treatment may not be required. The five-year survival rate of stage 2 kidney cancer is 74 percent. This means that 74 out of 100 people diagnosed with stage 2 kidney cancer will live more than five years after diagnosis.
There are two scenarios for third-stage renal cancer.
In the first scenario, the tumor became a major vein and a neighboring tissue but did not reach the neighboring lymph nodes.
In the second scenario, the tumor may be of any size and may occur outside the kidney. In this case, the cancer cells also invaded the adjacent lymph nodes but did not proceed further.
Stage 3 kidney cancer survival rate
In both cases, the therapy will be aggressive. If cancer has spread to the lymph nodes, they can be removed surgically. The five-year survival rate for stage 3 renal cancer is 53 percent. This means that 53 of every 100 people diagnosed with stage 3 kidney cancer will live another five years or more after they are diagnosed.
It can also be divided into two categories.
In the first, the tumor enlarged and reached the tissue beyond the kidney. It may have propagated to nearby lymph nodes, but it still has no metastases.
In the second, the tumor may be of any size, maybe in the lymph nodes, and has metastasized to other organs
Stage 4 kidney cancer survival rate
The five-year survival rate at this point drops to eight percent. This means that 8 out of 100 people diagnosed with stage 4 cancer will live another five years after they are diagnosed.
Early renal cancers usually cause no signs or symptoms, but larger ones can. Potential signs and symptoms for kidney cancer include:
- Blood in urine
- Back pain on one side
- A lump on the side or bottom of the back.
- Fatigue
- Decreased appetite.
- Weight loss
- Fever is not due to infection and does not go away.
- Anemia
The following factors have the potential to increase the risk of kidney cancer:
- Old age
- Smoking
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Kidney failure treatment
- Some hereditary syndromes.
- Family history of kidney cancer.
If you have any signs/symptoms that indicate you may have kidney cancer, your doctor will want to take your comprehensive medical record to check the risk factors.
Kidney cancer cannot be diagnosed with a blood test. A complete blood count (CBC) and blood chemistry test, on the other hand, can reveal blood signs linked to kidney cancer. Consider the following scenario:
- There aren’t enough red blood cells. Anemia is the medical term for this condition. It’s found in a variety of cancers.
- There are too many red blood cells in the body. Erythrocytosis, or polycythemia, is the medical term for this condition. Erythropoietin is a hormone produced by some types of kidney cancer cells. This causes the bone marrow to produce an excessive number of blood cells.
- A high calcium level in the blood. This could indicate that cancer has spread to the bones.
- The presence of a high level of liver enzymes. This could indicate that cancer has progressed to the liver.
This urinalysis test can be done if your doctor suspects kidney disease. A urinalysis test can be used to detect blood in the urine. A small sample of your urine is tested in a lab to see if it contains blood for this test.
Computed tomography uses X-rays to make detailed cross-section images of your body. It can provide accurate information on the size, form, and location of a tumor. It is also useful for checking whether cancer has spread to neighboring lymph nodes and tissues outside the kidney.
MRI scans can be performed when a person cannot have CT contrast dye because they are allergic to it or have poor renal function. MRI scans may also be performed if there is a chance that cancer has become a major blood vessel in the abdomen.
Finally, they can be used to examine abnormal regions of the brain and spinal cord which may be due to the spread of cancer.
Ultrasound will help find kidney mass and show whether it is solid or fluidic. Different ultrasound models may also help doctors differentiate between certain types of benign and malignant kidney tumors.
Angiography is an X-ray examination of the blood vessels. In a traditional angiogram, a contrast dye is injected into the kidney artery, and the dye describes the blood vessels. Radiographs can map blood vessels that feed a kidney tumor.
This test can help schedule surgery for certain patients. Angiography can also help diagnose kidney cancers as blood vessels generally have a special appearance with this test.
Today, angiography is performed through a computed tomography or MRI scan, instead of a separate X-ray test. This means that less contrast coloring is used because it could damage kidney function.