Invasive vs. In situ RCC?

KCFighter

My pathology report says I had "invasive" RCC. When I asked my surgeon about it, he it didn't mean anything & thinking it did was a common misconception. However, I have read that your path report will say either Invasive or In situ & that invasive does mean something - and not a good something. Has anyone else looked into this?

dleather

KC Fighter, Hi I'm Don. I think we met once on the chat line but I am not certain about that. I'm not an expert on kidney cancer but I have been battling it for 3 years. I went to a seminar last year that M.D. Anderson held for kidney cancer survivors and will tell you what they told us. Now if you don't know, M.D. Anderson has been rated by U.S. News & World Report as the No. 1 cancer treatment clinic in the whole U.S.A. The oncologists there are among the world's best. Here is what they have to say. They say that if kidney cancer has not spread, in other words it is in situ, you have a high percentage of survival. But, they say, once the cancer spreads beyond the kidney the chances for survival are greatly diminished. Now I don't know the different degrees (stage 1, stage 2, etc., etc.) but they just say it's a different ball game once it spreads. I'm highly suspicious about your doctor's position, perhaps you may have misunderstoon... I just can't imagine a doctor being so uninformed about life and death situations if you indeed really understood him correctly. If I were you I would get to M.D. Anderson as quickly as possible. But that's me. I hope you do well.

Let me tell you briefly what happened to me here in Arlington, Texas. Sounds similiar to what you're telling me. A local oncologist was going to put me into intensive care for 2 months and zap me with large doses of IL2. The doses would be so large that most of my organs would try to shut down at some point. Monitors in the ICU would alert doctors of this occurrance so they could back the dosage off to the point that my organs would come back to proper function. Then they would zap me again. This was to go on for 2 months. I was told that I'd be a pretty sick dude for several months. Contrast that approach to what M.D. Anderson did for me. They told me that they did not think IL2 was the thing for me. Instead they put me on Xeloda and Gemzar. These are much more modern drugs. Get this... I never quit work. Imagine 2 months in intensive care versus never quitting work. How is this possible? I don't know other than the fact that these people are so much more advanced that the ordinary run-of-the-mill doctor. My story is much too long to tell here. You can go to CSN's user directory and look up dleather and you'll find more info. They are amazing people down there (Houston, Texas). And don't think you gotta move to Houston. I made several trips to get thoroughly diagnosed. Then they put me on chemo. I was going once a week for intravenous drugs until they discovered that I was tolerating the chemo so well. Then they said "You only need to come here ever 3 months. Get a doctor in Dallas that will give you this IV. That way you can save a lot of money on plane fares and hotel bills". So that is what I did. Been doing that for 3 years. So far they have killed 10 tumors. E-mail me if you want more info. You can e-mail me from the web-page that CSN has set up for me. Have a great day my friend. Good luck. I'll pray for you.

AuthorUnknown

KC, You have not replied. I hope you are OK. I have TCC, transitional cell carsonoma. I have had my right kidney and bladder removed in diffent operations at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. The TCC mets to my left lung. The doctors at the Mayo Clinic removed my tumor and gave me taxol and carboplaten. The TCC came right back into my left ureter. They cut that cancerour ureter off and attached my illostomy to what was left. I was first dx in 1998. I am currently cancer free for 4 years now.

KCFighter

Hi Dleather & AllenF. Sorry for the delayed response. I appreciate the information you both have shared. I have since gotten another opinion & it is confirmed to have been confined to the kidney. Stage I. However, I still do not understand why it says invasive. The original doc said, anytime it is deemed cancer, the report says "invasive". I even talked to the pathologist directly who wrote the report and he confirmed this. From my research, that means it has spread or invaded at least into the renal artery. Since these docs/pathologists all know each other, I've been thinking of looking into a 3rd opinion at the Cleveland Clinic & now will look into M.D. Anderson as you suggested. I had not heard of MDA before. Glad to hear they were of such help to you.

Surgery was my only treatment. Because it was stage I, they said no further treatment required.Also, I have a rare sub-type of RCC called Chromophobe. It doesn't respond well to many of the available treatments. There is less research focused on it because it is rare. I will be followed every 6 months for an unknown amount of timme. The new doc said let's see what we find at the next appointment & then go from there. I go in for my 6 month follow up in 2 weeks!! I've been having this dull pain in the middle of my back since 2 months after surgery. Needless to say, I'm worried it is something sinister. Can't wait to get those scans!!! I'll be sure to post an update after my appointment.

Unknown

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