location of tumor?

Welcome to this forum - but sorry you have to be here...

I hate to say you are lucky - but your chances of success are much higher having caught this early.  Unfortunately, with cancer - as with life - there are never any guarantees.

That said, I have not found in any research that the location of the mass makes any difference re: reoccurance.  The location may prompt the need for a full versus partial, though.  Mine was on the edge of my left kidney so a partial nephrectomy (cutting out a small chunck of my kidney) - spared my kidney. Given the choice of partial or full - I went for partial as I still have full use/function in that kidney.  I never know - I might need that someday!  Keep in mind that sometimes they go in for a partial and end up doing a full.  My urologist (who did not do my surgery - it was done by an RCC specialist via robotic assisted surgery) told me that sewing up the kidney is akin to sewing up overcooked brocolli.  It can be difficult.  And, depending on the placement of the mass, a full could be necessary.

Any mass less than 4 cm is stage 1 - which is the best you can hope for.  Once they remove and biopsy it - they will assign it a Grade.  Grade 1 is the least aggressive form of renal cell cancer and has the best prognosis (or lowest chance of reoccurance or mets). 

BTW - these are all good questions and I'd certainly check in with your doc to get his take on them, as well.  The doc has MUCH more experience than my limited knowledge and one time experience with this.

Keep us posted - and best wishes!

J

Hi Kim....you can also join smartpatients.com.  They have a lot of knowledge there and can he another good place for you to get info.  Glad to hear you found it early,  Hugs.

Kim

The location of the tumor isn't related to its grade or stage, stage I/II depends on the size of it,both cases the tumor is confined to the kidney. But Stage III/IV aren't related to the size, in these stages it depends on how far the tumor has gone outside of the kidney.The location might lead to difficulties when they want to it partially as if its near some veins then it can be difficult to take the whole tumor out whitout hurting the remained kidney and its connection to other organs. so i've seen some patiants who had small sized tumor but because of the location they had raducal surgeries.

It's not proved in medical researches the type of surgery is a factor in reccurrence. The most important factors are stage,grade and size and subtype of the renal cell cancer.

Foroug

Pandabear1011 said:

Nope. Location doesn't matter

Nope. Location doesn't matter when it comes to recurrence. Mine was in the middle of my kidney. So I had my whole kidney removed. if the tumor grows into the renal vein or renal fat it is considered Stage 3. The grade of the tumor also is an important prognostic feature. Grade 1 or 2 is less likely to spread versus Grade 3 or 4. Also, there are other features like Sarcomatoid which makes a tumor very aggressive.  Mine was 6 cm and a Grade 2. It was completely comtained and no renal vein or fat invasion. Your tumor is very small. They will probably want to do a partial on your kidney. I would've had a partial but my tumor was in the middle of my kidney and a lot larger than yours. You are suffering from information overload...LOL..!! I know. I did the same as you when first diagnosed. ....Panda

It can be the difference between commuting on a back country road or having acces to an interstate hiway. Or lighting a match in the desert or in a pile of leaves. It all depends on location. I lost my kidney but the adrenal gland remained intact. I was surprised about that. Most importantly now is to trust your health care team. Let them make all these early decisions.  They are the professionals. Spend your time making the arrangements for assistance, shopping., housework, pre-cooked meals, etc. Those are things you have control of and they need to be done. Any time spent worrying is unrecoverable and unproductive. Save your energy for post surgery. You have some control over that. It's only pre-season. You'll be fine

foxhd said:

you know

cancer is so damn scarey. If you had to have your appendix out, you would leave all the decisions to your surgeon. Finding out it can be cancer destroys your logic and emotions. Glad your daughter is going with you. After your visit with the surgeon, take your daughter out to lunch to celebrate the biggest life saving journey you will experience. Make it positive. Be a spin doctor.

One thing I like to keep in mind when reading on forums is that most likely people with no recurrence stop eventually posting on websites and move on with their lives. So you might be getting a skewed group, as it makes sense to continue looking for info and support should your cancer return. According to literature there is no difference in recurrence rates between partial and full. It can and has returned to the kidney bed where kidney used to be. As said above, unfortunately cancer doesn't come with a guarantee. Stage 1 is the best possible diagnosis but even that has been known to suddenly morph into stage IV down the road. So I take nothing for granted but do like to remember that the odds are in our favor with stage1, whether removed partially or with the whole kidney.

I am only 44 years old, I have a wife, 22 year old daughter, and a 6 year old little girl.  I've been where you are now and I know how scary it is. 

1.  Until they have pathology back you will not know for sure if this is even cancer.  It would suck for you to lose your entire kidney only to find out that this is something benign.  You can of course live a normal life with only one kidney, but things like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure is a lot different for someone with only one kidney. 

2. The stage dose not change due to location on kidney.  I remember you saying that yours was 2.0 cm.  I am going to say that this will be stage I if it is cancer.  I know your concern about it going into the fat, but at 2.0 cm that's extremely rare.

3. Location of the lesion can matter when it comes to partial vs full nephrectomy.  Your urologist will make this determination and that is why I recommend using a urologist who is experienced with this type of procedure.  Your mass is probably not something that needs to come out emergently so you have time to find the right doctor for you.  When I finally went to MD Anderson it had been two months since the discovery of the masses on my right kidney and even then he told me that I could wait another 6 to 12 months to have surgery with very little chance of having mets.

4.  Experience matters, the doctor I originally saw was a talented urologist who specialized in kidney transplants.  I had no doubt he would have taken great care of me, however, I wanted to see a doctor that sees this problem in his/her office two or three times a week, NOT once or twice a month.  I went to MD Anderson for a second opinion.  When I went there I took my original CT films with me and they spotted a second tumor on that same kidney that no one back home said anything about.  I'm not saying go to MD Anderson, but I am recommending finding an experienced urologist you have complete faith in and turn it over to him/her.

5. When researching this subject matter online use caution.  I'd stick with .edu and .gov sites and even there be sure and check to see how old the article is.

Hang in there.  Things will get better, I promise!

Jason