Tumor invades into renal parenchyma, focally. What does this mean?

Devastated Wife
Devastated Wife Member Posts: 52 Member
edited April 2018 in Kidney Cancer #1

Tumor invades into renal parenchyma.  What does this mean?  Also, what do they mean by focally?

I think my husband's staging would have been a 1 or 2 if that wasn't present.   So, his stage is PT3.

Maybe I'm basically asking "how bad is this" or "how worried should I be"?

 

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Comments

  • kidneystoneblessing
    kidneystoneblessing Member Posts: 26 Member
    #2
    Containment

    typically with stage 1 or 2, the tumor shows no presence outside of the kidney.  The kidney is surrounded by fat and towards the collecting system by the renal parenchyma.  So looks like some focal cells were found there.  For me my upstage to stage 3 was due to focal fat invasion (fat around the kidney).   This just means there is evidence of the tumor moving vascularly via the lymph or renal vein.  

    In the end this is just proper staging.  It means u just need to have more follow ups and be watched more than stage 1.  After 11 months I am doing fine and living life.  Continue to do so too.  Just stay on top of it and listen to your doctors. 

  • kidneystoneblessing
    kidneystoneblessing Member Posts: 26 Member
    #3
    kidneystoneblessing said:

    Containment

    typically with stage 1 or 2, the tumor shows no presence outside of the kidney.  The kidney is surrounded by fat and towards the collecting system by the renal parenchyma.  So looks like some focal cells were found there.  For me my upstage to stage 3 was due to focal fat invasion (fat around the kidney).   This just means there is evidence of the tumor moving vascularly via the lymph or renal vein.  

    In the end this is just proper staging.  It means u just need to have more follow ups and be watched more than stage 1.  After 11 months I am doing fine and living life.  Continue to do so too.  Just stay on top of it and listen to your doctors. 

    Focal

    means small amounts of tumor found outside of kidney.  I had two focal spots. So real small cannot be seen by CT scan. 

  • Devastated Wife
    Devastated Wife Member Posts: 52 Member
    #4
    Thanks, Kidneystoneblessing

    Coincidently my husband kept getting kidney stones in that bad kidney (the one that was removed).  Long story short, a doctor told him it was just another kidney stone and just wait it out and probably the blood in the urine would be gone in 8 weeks.   No, we knew it wasn't a kidney stone and it was something worse.  He didn't have any pain and just a lot of blood and also clumps of blood in his urine.  Very scary to see that.  We ended up going to a different doctor that diagnosed him.

  • kidneystoneblessing
    kidneystoneblessing Member Posts: 26 Member
    #5
    Devastated Wife said:

    Thanks, Kidneystoneblessing

    Coincidently my husband kept getting kidney stones in that bad kidney (the one that was removed).  Long story short, a doctor told him it was just another kidney stone and just wait it out and probably the blood in the urine would be gone in 8 weeks.   No, we knew it wasn't a kidney stone and it was something worse.  He didn't have any pain and just a lot of blood and also clumps of blood in his urine.  Very scary to see that.  We ended up going to a different doctor that diagnosed him.

    Wow

    Ya I got lucky.  Had my one and only kidney stone in my right kidney which led to finding more sinister tumor in my left kidney.  Bottom line is your husband and i we’re fortunate we got kidney stone!  Otherwise we would have never known, which may have been way too late!!

  • sblairc
    sblairc Member Posts: 585 Member
    #6
    Bladder cancer

    I had to look this up because I was not famiiar with the term for this particular type of cancer and it is actually a bladder cancer from what i have read. I looked over on the bladder cancer board here on this site and there are some posts that might be helpful since kidney cancer is very different. Best of luck to you. Have you checked out Smart Patients? That will be valuable too. 

  • Devastated Wife
    Devastated Wife Member Posts: 52 Member
    #7
    sblairc said:

    Bladder cancer

    I had to look this up because I was not famiiar with the term for this particular type of cancer and it is actually a bladder cancer from what i have read. I looked over on the bladder cancer board here on this site and there are some posts that might be helpful since kidney cancer is very different. Best of luck to you. Have you checked out Smart Patients? That will be valuable too. 

    I wonder if this means he

    I wonder if this means he will get bladder cancer now.  Cry

  • Glidergal365
    Glidergal365 Member Posts: 93
    #8
    Devastated Wife said:

    I wonder if this means he

    I wonder if this means he will get bladder cancer now.  Cry

    It sounds like what he has is bladder cancer

    Based on the type of cancer they found on the pathology report, it sounds like it originated in the bladder and moved to the kidney? https://www.healthline.com/health/papillary-urothelial-carcinoma  

    It sounds like it's been very confusing for you. Are you seeing a Urologist? They should be able to explain the pathology report in more detail, including using diagrams to show you. I'm so sorry that you're going through all this and it sounds so scary. If there's anything we can do to support you, please keep reaching out. 

     

    Jenn

  • Trucker1
    Trucker1 Member Posts: 82
    #9
    Kidney stone

    Funny to read my one and only(knock on wood) is what helped discover my kidney cancer as well! I thank God for it, not many folks can say that. .

    Devasted wife- it's where the cancer starts that determines what kind of cancer it is. Kidney cancer in the lung is still kidney cancer..Bladder cancer in the kidney is still bladder cancer..

    I wish you all the best, stay postive !!

  • Devastated Wife
    Devastated Wife Member Posts: 52 Member
    edited April 2018 #10
    Not bladder cancer, it was kidney cancer.

     




    He didn't have bladder cancer.  He had kidney cancer.

    The cancer he had is just not as common in the kidneys.  It's rare.  He's one of the lucky/rare ones I guess.  Cry

    It's called urothelial carcinoma or transitional cell carcinoma.

    It's a type of cancer that typically occurs in the urinary system. It is the most common type of bladder cancer and cancer of the ureter, urethra, and urachus. It is the second most common type of kidney cancer, but accounts for only five to 10 percent of all primary renal malignant tumors.

     

    urothelial cancer :  

    Cancer that begins in cells called urothelial cells that line the urethra, bladder, ureters, renal pelvis, and some other organs. Urothelial cells are also called transitional cells. These cells can change shape and stretch without breaking apart. Also called transitional cell cancer.

     




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