Posted by HFHS M.D.-SS on March 23, 1998 at 17:58:04:

In Reply to: Renal Carcinoma posted by Edmund Reiss on March 20, 1998 at 09:07:34:

: I am 60 y.o.m. Have had diabetes since 1980, and kept under reasonable control. I have kidney involvement, but the signs indicated I have kidney loss of only 15%.

During routine exam for this problem, a small "cyst" was discovered on the right kidney. I was sent to have it aspirated, but it was not a cyst; it was hardened

My physician counseled me that if the "cyst" turned out to be cancer, the usual treatment is removal of the whole kidney, and that if it were not, (after examination of the piece of tissue,) they would just sew me up. The sugery was March 20th, 1998. I had only a partial nephrectomy, but the "cyst" was cancerous. The doctor explained to me that all the other tests were negative, re spreading, and such, and that in my case, since removal of the entire kidney would most certainly lead to dialysis, the decision was to leave it in. I am to see him today, to see what other findings have been made.

I jsut would like more information on this condition, and whether it wold be good to make a quick decision. (I still have slight pain from the last one on the 10th.

Dear Mr. Reiss,

Thank you for your question. What you had was a partial nephrectomy for an early cancer of the kidney. It was an appropriate thing to do when the tumor is small and one has some partial kidney loss such as from diabetes. The results of such operation are now very good in terms of long term survival and recurrence of the disease. One needs to be followed closely to detect any further recurrence. These days with increasing CT scans of the abdomen lot of small kidney tumors are diagnosed and treated in this manner. Since the tumor was completely removed there is no need for further treatment. The local recurrence rate is about 6% in some series. There are increased local complications immediately after surgery, but you are through with that. Hope this information is useful to you and do not hesitate to correspond if you need further information.
HFHS M.D.-SS
*Keyword:renal cell cancer, partial nephrectomy
This information is provided for general medical education purposes only. Please consult your physician for diagnostic and treatment options pertaining to your specific medical condition.

[The Urology Forum]      [The Urology Forum Archives]