Kidney Cancer Metastasis

Question: Herbal Cancer Cure ?? Could it be true ?? Please help, your suggestion matters to me now !? My dad's been diagnosed with renal carcicoma (cancer in the kidney) with lung metastasis (cancer cells from the kidney spreading to the lungs) We were shattered and we are doing everything to help him and I came across this strange website. I really do not trust it, but I would love to have your opinions and help and whatever you could tell me. Please please do reply or write in and tell me if this is genuine. Thank you. the website is - www.tianxian.com

Answer: I'm so sorry to hear about your dad. You are right not to trust this website; please be wary of websites about miracle cancer cures. They are targetting people exactly like you, people who are devastated, desperate and vulnerable. They're after your cash. 'Alternative' in this context is just another word for 'unproven'. If this product had been thoroughly tested and proven to be effective against cancer, we would know about it. Be wary of unsubstantiated testimonials - you have no way of knowing if the person ever had cancer, much less that they were cured. Wherever there's cancer there's an unscrupulous charlatan eager to part patients and their families from their cash for ineffective and sometimes dangerous 'cures'. My best wishes to your dad, and to you

Question: Kidney stones - how long can a stone remain in your kidney? had CT scan in 2003 and 2007and recent ultrasound, both show small non-shadowing echogenic structure in left kidney. Neither report could confirm renal stone. Slight increase in size of since 2007 report. 2x breast cancer survivor. Concerned with metastasis.

Answer: I believe it is possible to retain stones in the renal pelvis for years, but you say the scans did not confirm stones. "Echogenic" sounds cystic. These sound like renal cysts. I know more about breast cancer than urology and radiology. Breast cancers do not often show up as initial metastatic disease in that location - - the kidneys. We do see adrenal gland mets, but these are often very late with widespread metastatic disease. Metastatic breast cancer is much more likely to show up in the bones, lungs, liver, brain, and then adrenal glands. Your oncologist should be answering this question for you. It's a part of our job. Much of my time was spent explaining scan results, lab results, path reports, and so on. It is important to allay understandable anxiety that patients have regarding their reports. Many people access their own reports and do not have the years of training to fully understand what the reports mean. I hope you can go over this report with the medical oncologist who knows your case. That would be best. I spent plenty of time going over scans with radiologists so I could explain the findings for my patients. I often showed the scans to patients and any family they brought with them so they would know what we are looking at. This is time consuming but important in my opinion.

Question: I am about to take a ct scan on my abdominal area? I am about to take a ct scan on my adbdominal and kidney area for metastasis of cancer. My doctor tells me I should not consume anything 6 hours before the scan. That's fine, but can I not drink anything at all? Please advise.

Answer: U dont wanna put anything that has sugar in your body----u can drink water, seeing as how this gets metabolized through the system, and comes out in the pee......during the 6 hours-yea stay away from food...but do drink by all means neccesary....when doing a CT scan, with no food in the belly=equals a clearer image on the scan..

Question: Does small amount of alcohol, like 1 bottle may lead to cancer? i am studying alcohol since after grad, so i try to use it in a baboon, commercial alcohol or boost, then a teaspoon lead to hepatocyte metastasis? does this mean you will have cancer or liver will regenerate, if the liver regenerate is it possible that lever cell will migrate and regenerate in other parst of the body such as brain kidney?

Answer: You did not give enough details , like how much alcohol a day, or is this one time ? The liver has a very rich blood supply, and is, in most instances, a secondary metastasis (a spreading of a cancer) location from a primary cancer elsewhere. Simply put, cancers from another part of the body prefer to migrate/spread first to the lymphatic system, and secondly to the liver. Almost all (but not ALL) liver cancers originate elsewhere in the body. Multiple tumors are common. There is a difference between "liver cancer" and cancer in the liver. Cancers are referred to by the organ of origin: so breast cancer is breast cancer, whether it's in the breast or has spread to the liver. Liver cancer, strictly speaking, is cancer which begins in the liver. It can be cured (rarely) by removing that part of the liver in which it arises. What you are talking about, metastatic cancer, means it has spread to the liver from elsewhere, and therefore is nearly always incurable. The prognosis depends to some degree on the organ from which it spread: colon cancer in the liver sometimes grows slowly, and sometimes can have a dramatic response to chemotherapy. Pancreatic cancer, on the other hand, tends to grow fast and not respond to any treatment. So it will be important to know, if possible, the original organ; such knowledge might suggest a treatment plan. On some occasions, the origin is never found. Generally, people found to have metastatic cancer in their liver live between 3 and 6 months: there are occasional startling exceptions, and I've known patients who responded completely to chemo for metastatic colon cancer and were disease-free years late. That, in truth, is an extremely rare outcome. There are ways of treating tumors in the liver which show some promise for prolonging response with minimal "invasion," including heating or freezing the tumors with various probes inserted either with xray guidance or ultrasound during surgery -- "open" or laparascopic.

Question: What does "activity" mean when stated on an MRI? A client of mine was diagnosed with bladder cancer. A whole body bone scan was completed to determine metastases, which identified some degenerative changes in the cervical spine and shoulders, no osseous, or bone, metastases, but it did indicate some "activity" which was evident in the bladder and the kidney. Does this mean that there are malignant cells in the kidney, in addition to the previously diagnosed bladder?

Answer: No, no. Activity simply means that there is radiotracer uptake seen in these regions. In the case of a bone scan, the radiopharmaceutical Tc-99m-MDP is renally excreted so this is simply making note of this physiologic process; there's absolutely no cause for alarm. This in no way suggests that there is anything wrong with your patient's kidneys, ureters or bladder beyond what we already know from prior studies. As Old Doc mentioned, we know that there is disease there and if we wish to look at how the underlying disease has advanced, there are much better tests that can provide such information like Old Doc mentioned, as opposed to a bone scan which will cause the urinary structures to light up or have activity physiologically.. Activity is a term that's reserved for scintigraphy. For MRI, the appropriate term to use would be increased signal intensity.

Question: adenocarcinoma of lung .... only personal experience or professional please? 65 yr old female, adenocarcinoma of lung with metastasis to brain and bone. chemotherapy every 3 weeks, has had 6 treatments, seemed to be working. doing poorly as result of chemo, lethargic, weak, reduced mental state. hospitalized 12 days ago for above concern, electrolytes terribly insufficient, sodium down. diagnosed as SIADH, performing blood and urine analysis daily, kidneys ok, lumbar puncture shows cryptoccocus. Still in hospital, 2 days ago xray showed "shadowing" around known cancer mass. Drs unsure if cacner growth or pneumonia. She is on antibiotic for cryptoccocal menengitis. Her breathing is VERY labored, and the drs called for another xray. It shows the "shadowing" has grown since 2 days ago, although no fever, dr has decided she will start antibiotic for pneumonia, although no fever spike. Legs are mottled today for the first time. repsirations are not consistant, have been 20 up to the 50's (50's did not last long). It doesn't look good...HELP

Answer: I agree with the previous answer...you need to have a heart to heart with your dr. You need to know if the antiobotics are a palliative measure, just to keep her comfortable. The dr or nurses there can provide you with information on the dying process and what you can expect. With the description you have provided it sounds like she may be in the dying process. Decreased mental state, decreased or no appetite, change in respirations (very irregular), mottling of the skin, decreased or no urine output...these are all signs that occur in the last stages of life. Usually a few days before the patient may have a period of clarity, where they want to talk to family members, may start eating and then it is followed by decreased alertness and coma. Research says that hearing is one of the last senses to go...so be with her, talk to her, say all that is needed to be said with no regrets. My father passed away from cancer 2 years ago and this is pretty much how it went...one of the nurses gave a good peice of advice, which was to always have someone there, touching or holding their hand so they are not alone when they leave this earth. We did not leave his side for four days, we took turns relieving each other....but it is what gives me peace now that he was not alone. I know it is a very difficult time, it will get better with time, even though it never feels like it. My heart goes out to the family and friends of this lady and I pray for peace to all those who surround her in love.