Treatment
of Renal Cell Carcinoma:
Facts You Should Know
Stages of Renal Cell Carcinoma?
Once renal cell cancer has been found, more tests will be done to find out if cancer cells have spread to other parts of the body. This is called staging. A doctor needs to know the stage of the disease to plan treatment. The following stages are used for renal cell cancer:
Stage I
Cancer is found only in the kidney.
Stage II
Cancer has spread to the fat around the kidney, but the cancer has not spread beyond this to the capsule that contains the kidney.
Stage III
Cancer has spread to the main blood vessel that carries clean blood from the kidney (renal vein), to the blood vessel that carries blood from the lower part of the body to the heart (inferior vena cava), or to lymph nodes around the kidney. (Lymph nodes are small, bean-shaped structures that are found throughout the body; they produce and store infection-fighting cells.)
Stage IV
Cancer has spread to nearby organs such as the bowel or pancreas or has spread to other places in the body such as the lungs.
Recurrent
Recurrent disease means that the cancer has come back (recurred) after it has been treated. It may come back in the original area or in another part of the body.
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For More Information On Renal Cell Carcinoma:
Visit Renal
Cell Carcinoma Guide of
The Cancer Information Network
Date Modified: 05/15/02
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