Blood in Urine (Anal Canal Cancer & Lung Adenocarcinoma, 2+ years in remission)

boda2

Hello!

 

First I would like to thank this board for a lot of information and encouragement. It has been extremely helpful. I would like to ask for an information about my mother. 

 

Short background:

My mother was diagnosed with anal canal cancer (Stage II) in May 2015, during the preparation for the radio/chemo therapy she was also diagnosed with early stage lung adenocarcinoma (Stage IB). Since the two tumors have different cell types they were viewed as two independent cancers. So she did a thoracoscopic surgery for her lung adenocarcinoma, then did two chemos for both cancers (cisplatin + paclitaxel), an additional two chemos for lung (carboplatin + paclitaxel), and radiotherapy (I think it is 30 Gy in total if I remember it correctly) for her anal canal cancer. She has been in remission after all the treatment (2+ years).

 

Starting from about two months ago, on her last follow-up exam, her urinalysis shows blood in urine. Specially RBC is 2 or 3 times of the normal high end. (Sorry my mother is living in another country so the unit is not the same, the actual number is 32.90 * 10^6 / L). She didn't find blood in urine in a previous follow-up exam about one year ago. She did have a kidney stone of 0.5 mm size but it has been there for a long time (at least the last 5 years). 

 

After the first urinalysis with blood in urine, she did a ultrasound exam as well as MRI scan (in her followup exam for anal canal cancer) and showed everything was normal.

 

Her doctor says it's better for her to continue monitor the situation by doing urinalysis once every month. 

 

I wonder if people have seen similar situations like this before? Is it a concern that something more serious may be behind (in terms of lung adenocarcinoma and anal canal cancer)?

 

Thank you for reading and help!

 

mp327

boda2

Your mother has certainly been through a lot.  I can understand your concern about the blood in her urine.  I hope that the continued monitoring will show that it is clearing up or provide answers as to the cause.  I think any of us who have had pelvic radiation are more susceptible to urinary tract infections, cystitis, etc.  I hope this turns out to be nothing serious.

Mollymaude

Boda2

The good news is that her scan was normal. The blood in urine could be from that kidney stone too, along with the other possibilities mentioned by above. I think it sounds like she is getting good care and the continued monitoring of her urine is a good idea. It's pretty hard to relax after the medical nightmare she's been through. 

boda2

Thank you mp327 and

Thank you mp327 and Mollymaude. Just would like to report back that my mother's subsequent urine tests are either within the normal range, or higher than the threshold but not as high as we first saw in my first post. My mother's other exams seems fine too. So far it doesn't look like the urine test abnormality was related to either of the two cancers (anal canal and lung).

mp327

boda2

This sounds like great news!

Mollymaude

Boda2

Thanks for letting us know the good news! Great way to start a new year!

Paris75

Paris75

Hello Boda,

I was diagnosed in January 2016. Last spring, I had bleeding in both my urine and in my stools. For the urine, they did a "cytoscopy", where they go into the bladder to examine it. The procedure, although it sounds awful, was very rapid and not painful. They told me that it is quite common after radiation in the area, to have bleeding, due to the scar tissue, which can be thin and fragile, especially in the beginning. Of course, when I saw the blood, I was worried about a recurrence of the cancer. The bleeding in the urine seems to have since stopped.