stage 4

  hi,my husband has been told he is stage 4 kidne cancer.the onocoligst and our primary care interinst have both told us there is basicaly nothing tey can do now,other than resurce,and treat what signs he has next. my question is the dr started him on megace,[fo his breathing] both lungs are cancerious also. but isnt megace a hormone??? will it make the tumors grow faster?? and what causes th extreme swelling of his legs and feet??? the tiredness also has increased.. thank you for ay help..also what is his chances or lenghth of live???

[hfhs M.D.-AK]

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Dear Sheryl,
Modern treatment of stage 4 kidney cancer would include 5-flourouricil combined with interlukin-2(IL-2) or interferon alpha .  These two therapeutic regimens may help, but importantly, with limited side effects to the patient.  I did a literature search to review the use of Megace (megestrol acetate) in kidney cancer and found one study being done at Strong Memorial Hospital in New York who used the Megace because it was shown to improve quality of life in other cancer patients.  In this study, they used the Megace in combination with Interferon-alpha to treat advanced renal cell cancer of the kidney.
My thoughts are that your oncologist knows that Megace has been shown to improve quality of life in other cancer patients and instead of doing nothing, they have decided to put your husband on Megace.  I don