How to treat kidney cancer

Kidney cancer patients all know that they need to undergo surgical treatment if conditions permit, but surgical treatment is also determined based on the patient's condition, whether to remove all or none of the tumor. Many patients need radiotherapy and chemotherapy. No matter which kidney cancer treatment method is used, the patient needs to actively cooperate with the treatment and keep himself in a good mood.

Common kidney cancer treatments:

1. Radical nephrectomy

It is suitable for most patients in the early and middle stages and is the most basic treatment method. The scope of surgery includes the removal of the diseased kidney, perirenal fat, perirenal fascia and ipsilateral adrenal gland. The 5-year and 10-year survival rates are 52% and 49% respectively.

2. Simple nephrectomy

It is suitable for palliative resection of advanced renal cancer, which can relieve local symptoms such as pain, bleeding, fever, etc. It is also suitable for patients with poor general condition who cannot tolerate radical surgery. Sometimes it also has better results. The 5-year and 110-year survival rates are 33% and 7.1% respectively.

3. Regional lymph node dissection

Performing regional lymph node dissection at the same time as radical nephrectomy can help correct clinical staging, reduce local tumor recurrence rate, and improve survival rate. Radical nephrectomy plus regional lymph node dissection has a 5-year survival rate of 87.4% for stage 1, 60.6% for stage 2, and 41% for stage 3, while the 5-year survival rate without lymph node dissection is only 33%.

4. Renal artery embolization

It refers to selective renal artery catheterization through percutaneous puncture, injection of embolic material, and occlusion of the artery. Main functions:

(1) After embolization, the tumor undergoes extensive necrosis and shrinks, creating favorable conditions for surgery, reducing intraoperative bleeding, making it easier to separate the tumor, and shortening the operation time;

(2) Reduce the spread of tumor cells;

(3) For large tumors that are difficult to remove, embolization can increase the chance of surgical resection;

(4) Palliative embolization therapy can control and relieve the patient's symptoms;

(5) Activate the host immune system, etc. Embolization can also be used to treat massive bleeding in renal cancer. Selective embolization of the renal artery is a treatment method with minimal damage. Since 80% of the efficacy of embolization therapy is due to the embolization effect, and renal cancer is not sensitive to chemotherapy, and the adverse reactions of chemotherapy drugs are large, chemotherapy drugs should be used with caution in renal cancer intervention.

The treatment methods for kidney cancer patients in the early, middle and late stages are different. The earlier the treatment, the easier it is to treat. In the late stages, we can only try to prolong the patient's life. Therefore, the treatment plan is determined based on the patient's condition. Experts suggest that no matter which treatment method is used, patients should face it with a positive attitude and pay attention to their diet.