Stage 4/Renal Cell Carcinoma

skateabit said:

deciding whether or no to stop treatments

I was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney cancer in March 2019; a large tumor on my left kdiney along with nodules in both lungs and some lymph glands. I had my left kidney removed and started on a new treatment plan of  daily pills of axitinib(Inlyta) and infusions of pembrolizumab(keytruda) every 3 weeks. After about 7 months I was declared in remission with no signs of nodules in my lungs or lymph glands. I have continued on the treatment plan  and subsequent CT scans show I am still in remission.

I am considering discontinuing the treatments so the side effects stop. Has anyone else had the same chemo/immunotherapy plan as me and gone off it after being in remissions? How are you doing? What about other chemo/immunotherapy plans; has anyone gone in remission and then stopped their treatments? 

Congrats on remission.  My husband was stage 4 in 2012.  He has no evidence of disease since 2013.  He has taken Inlyta since 2013.  He doesnt plan on stopping.  3 different oncologists recommend not stopping.  Psychologically its better for him to just keep on doing what works.  He doesnt have any side effects.  He takes 7 mg two times a day.  10 mg was too much.  Maybe your dosage could be lowered.  And to answer your question, there are people who choose not to do treatment when there is no evidence of disease.  I think that is more common, than what my husband is doing.  Most people do have some unpleasant side effects, and he doesnt.