I had an estiamted 1.5cm lesion in my right kidney found, also incidental, in December, 2013.  I was referred to a urologic oncologist at Stanford University.  He recommended active surveillance, meaning scans every six months.  They alternated between unltrasounds and CT scans.  He told me that was the standard of care for lesions that size.  He also told me tjhat if I couldn't stand the thought of a possible cancer inside of my body, he could arrange to have it taken out right away.  He recommended the active surveillance because he did not want to impact my kidney function if he didn't have to.  In April, 2016, an ultrasound showed that the lestion had grown to 1.8cm, so he recommended taking it out.  He gave me the choice of cryo-ablation (freezing it and thereby killing the cancerous cells) or having it removed robotically.  He said the cryo had about a 90% success rate and the surgery about 99%.  He recommended the surgery, and I agreed that getting it out completely made more sense.

The "right answer" for you depends on how you feel about having the mass inside you.  I went with my doctor's advice the whole way and we did the active surveillance until he was certain it was cancer.  As to robotic versus open, I can only tell you that my experience with the robotic was that it was easier than a couple of open surgeries I've had on my stomach in the past.  I was in the hospital only overnight and I went home with a little discomfort, but no real pain.  Hopefully, others will tell you their experiences both with robotic and with open so you have more information on which to base your decision.

The good news is that, just like with me, this mass was found very early and the prospect for a complete recovery and cancer-free life going forward is very good.

---a similar post from you a few days ago, but it seems to be no longer there. Same answer. They are all reasonable options and you should go with the doctor you are most comfortable with. There is no single right or wrong answer.

icemantoo

1.5 cm is very small, so it makes sense to me to watch it and repeat scans in 3 months.  I do believe, from our experience, that it is important where the mass is located in whether there would be more  urgency in getting it removed or waiting.  

Hi. I am sure you will have more direction and info once the MRI is completed. If it IS cancer then I would not want to keep that in my body (just my personal opinion). Good luck and all the best to you with your care and decisions.

msdcastro said:

Anyone knows a kidney cancer

Anyone knows a kidney cancer survivor longer than 20 years after surgery? Doctors like the word Cure, but no recidive is realy feasible?

iceman is, if I recall correctly, a sixteen year survivor.  The guy that used to do our gardening was treated for kidney cancer about ten years ago and he's still going strong.  You have to remember.....your kidney mass, if it's cancerous, is quite small.  As I said before, it's the size mine was when mine was discovered.  My urologic oncologist, my surgeon and my primary care physician all said that surgery would cure....yes.....cure.....the cancer.  Could they guarantee that it won't come back?  Not a 100% guarantee, but they all said it was about 99% certain not to come back.  I'll take those odds any day.  But no one can give you a 100% guarantee that it won't come back.  Then again, no one can give you a 100% guarantee that you won't get hit by a bus in the morning.  But the odds are very, VERY good that you won't get hit by a bus, just like the odds are in your favor that the cancer will not return.

On a side note, my brother-in-law, in 2009, was diagnosed wwith nasopharangeal cancer.  It's a cancer that hits the back of the nose and throat.  He was diagnosed at Stage 4A and when we heard that, we figured he was a goner.  Radiaition and chemotherapy didn't just control his cancer, they eliminated it.  He has been cancer free for nine years now.  Again, he was Stage 4A!

I think you are trying to talk yourself into a worse case scenario here.  The advancements that have occurred in the past few years and those that are still under development in the treatment of not just kidney cancer, but all cancers, are pretty amazing.  I'm almost 63 years old and I am convinced that I will live long enough to see cancer become more of a nuisance disease than a deadly disease, one that is either cured or controlled by a combination of surgery, drug therapy, gene therapy or immunotherapy.

msdcastro said:

Update

Just to keep posting, Today I did an US (3 months before the first unenhaced CT) and still showing nothing diferent. According to the Radiologist Doctor, only a slight lobulation from my own renal parenchyma. Nothing hyperecoyc/hypoechoic image. I don't know if it means something really positive, or if Ultrasound could have a not good accuracy for a small renal mass. I will keep my original plan to do a MRI an the end of my business trip in October. Any opinion?

With that small a mass in the outer lobe, I think you're doing fine to observe it with imaging for awhile before making any decisions about surgery. However, you might want to do one MRI now and another in the future so you can see if it grew/changed instead of waiting. If it were me I'd rather have 2 high definition scans with contrast/enhanced to compare the results 3 or more months apart so you can judge if it is growing or not.

Usually they do CT with contrast. It's preferred over MRI for some reasons I can't explain. But I think you said you are allergice to the CT contrast and that's why you have to have an MRI?

Todd