Kidney cancer that comes back
This page tells you about your treatment options if your kidney cancer comes back. There is information about
Which treatment for kidney cancer that comes back
Sometimes kidney cancer can come back after surgery, even if your doctor hoped it might be cured. If it does, the treatment you have will depend on your general health and where in your body the cancer has spread. The aim is to try to control or slow down the growth of the cancer. And to lessen or remove any symptoms you have. Unfortunately, treatments do not often cure kidney cancer that has spread.
Surgery
If your cancer has only spread to one other area of your body, and you are in otherwise good health, you may be able to have surgery.
Other treatments
Embolisation is a way of cutting off the blood supply to an area. Other possible treatments include radiotherapy and biological therapy. Some recurrent kidney cancers respond to hormone therapy tablets called medroxyprogesterone (Provera). But these days, hormone treatment is not used so much.
Deciding about treatment
With advanced cancer it can be difficult to decide which treatment to try, or whether to have treatment at all. You may want to take into consideration your quality of life while you are having the treatment. Most importantly, you will need to understand what can be achieved with the treatment you are being offered. Your doctor will discuss the options with you. You may also wish to talk things over with a close relative or friend, or with a counsellor or specialist nurse at the hospital.
You can view and print the quick guides for all the pages in the Treating kidney cancer section.
If your cancer has only spread to one other area of your body, and you are in otherwise good health, you may be able to have surgery. This is most likely to be possible if you only have one or, at most, two areas of cancer in the affected body organ. It may be possible to remove cancer that
- Has spread to the lung
- Has spread to the liver
- Has spread to the brain
- Has come back in the place where the kidney was before you had it removed (the 'renal bed')
Obviously this is very specialised surgery. So your cancer specialist will refer you to a surgeon who is an expert in this field. For example, you would be referred to a lung surgeon to consider the possibility of having surgery to remove secondary cancer in the lungs. Look in the types of surgery for kidney cancer section.
If there are too many areas of metastasis for surgery, then your doctor might consider using radiotherapy. Radiotherapy is most often used for kidney cancer that has spread to the brain or bones. It can be very helpful for shrinking a growing cancer and so controlling symptoms.
If the cancer comes back after surgery your doctor may suggest treatment with biological therapy. Biological therapies are treatments that use natural substances from the body, or drugs made from these substances. There are several different types of biological therapy for kidney cancer, including sunitinib, interferon and interleukin (IL-2).
Other biological treatments are being researched including bevacizumab (Avastin) , sorafenib (Nexavar) and temsirolimus (Torisel). You may have them as part of clinical trials.
There is detailed information about biological therapies for kidney cancer in this section of CancerHelp UK. And there is information about research into some new biological therapies in the what's new in kidney cancer section.
This is a way of cutting off the blood supply to an area. It can be used to cut off the blood supply to a tumour that is causing symptoms such as pain or bleeding. This may be in the kidney or elsewhere in the body. Embolisation is explained in more detail in the section on treating early stage kidney cancer.
Some cases of recurrent kidney cancer respond to hormone therapy tablets called medroxyprogesterone (Provera). These day, hormone treatment is not used so much. It generally has less effect on the cancer than biological therapies. It also has side effects such as
- Water retention
- Weight gain
- Indigestion or nausea
- Sleeplessness
Medroxyprogesterone is a steroid hormone. You should never take any steroid tablet on an empty stomach because it can irritate the lining of your stomach. If you are troubled by sleeplessness, it might be better to take your tablet in the morning.
Most treatment for advanced kidney cancer is aimed at reducing symptoms or keeping you well for as long as possible. Unfortunately, the treatments we have do not often cure kidney cancer that has spread. There are many new treatments for kidney cancer currently being tested in clinical trials, including several newer biological therapies. You may wish to ask your doctor about the possibility of taking part in a clinical trial. Click on the pink button to the left of your screen to search our clinical trials database for kidney cancer trials. If there is a trial you are interested in, you can print off the details and talk about the trial with your specialist.
It can be difficult to decide which treatment to try, or whether to have treatment at all when you have an advanced cancer. You may want to take into consideration your quality of life while you are having the treatment. This includes side effects as well as stresses such as travelling back and forth to the hospital. Most importantly, you will need to understand what can be achieved with the treatment you are being offered.
Your doctor will discuss the options for treatment with you. There may be a counsellor or specialist nurses at the hospital you could chat to. You may also wish to talk things over with a close relative or friend.
It can be helpful to talk over difficult decisions with someone who is outside your circle of family and friends. Contact a counselling organisation to find out more, and how to find a counsellor in your area.
This page has information about counselling organisations. There is more about what counselling is in our coping with cancer section.
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