In recent years, there have been more frequent cases when doctors diagnose clear cell renal cancer. How to treat this disease and what can be expected in the future? You can deal with this if you first understand what this tumor is and how it differs from other types of malignant neoplasms.
What is it about?
Clear cell hypernephroid kidney cancer, as a rule, forms in the tissue lining the proximal channels of the nephron. Cases of damage to the pyelocaliceal system are recorded somewhat less frequently . Regarding the other subspecies of cancer, this is not very common, as it is diagnosed in approximately two percent of all patients with cancer. At the moment, she holds the tenth position in terms of frequency of occurrence in the world.
Every year on our planet, 250 thousand people are diagnosed with clear cell renal cancer. About a hundred thousand die every year due to this disease. Statistics show that, to a greater extent, clear cell renal cell carcinoma of the kidney more often affects residents of large cities. Risk group - people aged 50 to 70 years.
How to treat?
If clear cell kidney cancer is diagnosed, treatment can be versatile. You can use folk remedies and additional therapy, but you can not neglect what doctors recommend. It is necessary to accurately follow the instructions for taking medications and timely undergo the prescribed procedures. If doctors recommend an operative way to treat the disease, you should trust their experience.
Usually, the tactics of treating the disease are chosen immediately, as soon as the final diagnosis was made and the stage of development of the disease reached. In this case, doctors evaluate:
- age of the patient;
- general condition of the body;
- What did clear cell renal cancer metastasize;
- how great are lesions of neighboring organs, tissues.
Effective Techniques: Surgery
If a clear cell renal cancer is diagnosed, doctors suggest using all the possibilities of modern medicine, first of all, developments in the field of surgery. It is believed that surgery is the most effective method of combating the disease.
With this method of oncology treatment, the doctor gains full access to the affected organs and tissues of the patient and can select the optimal removal option on the spot, decide how large the area should be removed and how to do it. It happens as follows:
- The blood vessels leading to the kidneys are ligated.
- A whole block of affected tissues is removed: kidney, tumor, fiber.
- Lymphatic dissection is done.
We call for help immunity
Very good results if clear cell kidney cancer has been diagnosed can be achieved by immune therapy. This is a method that effectively destroys transformed tissue cells.
When diagnosed with clear cell renal cancer, the Interleukin-2 micropreparation is used primarily. It has an active effect on tumor tissue, which leads to lysis of the neoplasm. Additionally, the drug affects the activity of T-lymphocytes. These cells themselves begin to produce the active substance.
Another tool that has proven itself in medical practice is the drug Interferon-alpha-2a. It can be combined with the drug mentioned above. This combination gives the most striking result.
Cancer chemotherapy
If doctors have detected clear cell renal cancer, the prognosis after removal largely depends on what therapy is used. If it was decided to resort to surgery, this does not mean that treatment is limited to the surgical table. After this, you will have to undergo a rather long course of chemotherapy. Assign it before the operation.
Drugs that can be used to fight kidney cancer:
- "Cisplatin."
- "Doxorubicin."
- "Methotrexate."
- Vinblastine.
In some cases, doctors recommend platinum medication. Medications can be combined with gemcitabine.
Remember that chemotherapy as an independent method of combating the disease cannot be used, since its effectiveness is too low. This is only an additional measure to make treatment more effective and of high quality.
Radiation therapy
Palliative for kidney cancer - radiation therapy. Effective in the case when the disease provoked metastases in the patient’s bones. Radiation therapy can reduce pain.
It is used as fractionation of 3 Gy. The duration of the course is two weeks. Frequency - 10 times. In some cases, 4 Gy is prescribed 5 times. Then the course is reduced to a week. Statistics show that pain can be reduced in 80% of cases.
Cancer Hormones
Hormonal drugs alone will not help defeat kidney cancer, but their main advantage is the ability to slow the growth of malignant neoplasms. A fairly wide range of medicines is used, the most effective ones have shown themselves:
- Tamoxifen.
- "Medroxyprogesterone."
In general, statistics show that one can count on the best outcomes only when the therapy has combined several methods. Surgery is the most important stage of an integrated approach, but it is important to maintain the strength of the body of a sick person by other known methods.
What to expect?
If doctors have detected clear cell renal cancer, the prognosis depends on what stage the disease was detected. Also, much is determined by the nature of oncology and whether metastases are present, how active they are. Of course, the detection of cancer in the initial stage increases the likelihood of a successful outcome.
If it was possible to diagnose the disease in the first stage, then the five-year survival rate exceeds 90%. In the second stage, this indicator varies about 70-75%. At the third stage, five-year survival is not more than 65%. Finally, at the last stage of the disease, when oncology struck the lymph nodes and the tumor sprouted into distant organs and tissues, about 10-40% of patients survive five years after the completion of therapy.
Some features
In the case when a tumor was detected, the diameter of which does not exceed three sentiments, removal by resection is allowed. Regardless of how large the education is, with surgical intervention it is possible to resort to this method only if the patient has only one kidney.
In the past few years, scientists have been able to develop several new tumor removal techniques. The most famous innovative medical technologies:
- cybernetic knife;
- radio frequency ablation;
- renal artery embolization.
All these methods allowed doctors to quickly and efficiently remove the tumor in the most difficult cases. According to statistics, in recent years, doctors are increasingly treating those patients who, 5-7 years ago, would have been classified as hopeless. But you should not even try to choose a technique for yourself, this can only be done by a highly qualified specialist. An oncologist studies the condition of the patient’s body and gets acquainted with his individual characteristics, on the basis of which he makes a final conclusion about the possibility of using this or that method.
Cancer and quality of life
How much a person can maintain the quality of life depends on how much the disease struck his body. Of course, the development of oncology reduces five-year survival, and the prognosis is becoming less and less favorable with each new step. But even in the case when the patient survived five years after undergoing therapy, the quality of life will never be the same as before.
Of course, the operation gives a good result, but in the future you will have to live without one kidney, which imposes certain restrictions on nutrition and lifestyle, daily activity. Also, doctors will prescribe drug therapy, which you will have to adhere to literally until the end of life.
Targeted therapy
This technique has become known to doctors relatively recently and has already shown its effectiveness in the fight against oncology. The method is based on the use of specific drug therapy that affects cancer cells. A high level of effectiveness is due to tagging, that is, the target orientation of the active substances. At the same time, healthy cells of the body do not suffer when taking such medications. This means that side effects are significantly reduced (although not to zero).
When taking the drug, the active substance acts on the molecules of one type and affects the cellular mechanisms that provoke the growth of tumor cells in a sick body. The use of such drugs already shows such great effectiveness that some scientists propose that they completely replace immunotherapy. If possible, nowadays, doctors tend to use the immune system in combination with targeted - this shows good results. The growth of malignant neoplasms is reduced by at least half.
Targeted therapy is indispensable when radiation and chemotherapy have already shown their inefficiency. Applied medicines:
Home Cancer Treatments
Of course, the doctor prescribes the main way to fight cancer after a full examination of the patient, but it is allowed to resort to some methods of home treatment in order to maintain the strength of the body and help healthy cells fight against degenerated ones. First of all, with kidney cancer, home treatment is reduced to following a special diet. She is prescribed by an oncologist, focusing on the features of a particular case. It is allowed to use only foods rich in vitamins that are easily absorbed by the human body.
Unacceptable for kidney cancer:
These limitations are for life.
Do not use as food:
You can try to drink infusions brewed on the following herbs:
- rhodiola;
- Highlander;
- calamus;
- chaga;
- horsetail;
- nettle.