1. To Operate or Not
Until recently, surgery was the number one treatment for renal cell carcinoma, and it often involved removing the entire kidney. More recently, studies have shown that removing just the tumor leads to the same survival rates as more radical procedures. If you have the option of other treatments, such as immunotherapy and drug treatment, you may wish to explore these first. However, if your cancer is in an advanced stage, with the danger of spreading to other organs, surgery may be the quickest, most feasible action.
2. Boost Your Immune System
Your immune system not only fights off the common cold and flu, but cancer as well. Immunotherapy boosts your immune system, using a combination of prescription and homeopathic drugs that enhance the body's immune system. Interleukin-2 and interferons are commonly used to fight kidney cancer. Depending on the stage of renal cell carcinoma, immunotherapy may be the basis of your treatment. In more advanced cases, it may serve as a boost to radiation, chemotherapy or targeted therapy. Radiation and chemotherapy have not shown great results with kidney cancer, but you may need them if your cancer has spread.
3. Target the Cancer
You can use targeted drugs to fight cancer on a molecular level. Like other forms of therapy, you may experience some side effects, but these drugs have been shown to be effective first lines of treatment against renal cell carcinoma. Sorafenib, sunitinib, temsirolimus and bevacizumab are just a few of these cancer-targeting drugs. Keep in mind that progression of the disease is still expected with this type of treatment, but you may also experience shrinking of the tumor. If you have not had luck with these drugs in the past, you should consider joining a medical study testing new cancer drugs. You should know that while targeted therapy can slow the progression of cancer, it hasn't been shown to be completely curative.
