renal cell carcinoma with brain matastasis - Cancer Message Board

pennygelinas · 03-05-2001, 04:47 PM

I am very angree,I went to the doctors today and they did find two spots on my brain and one on my scalp,the bone.I guess they are not going to do surgery but this radiation to the brain,I find out more at the end of the week.They dont know if this will work and shrink or even get rid of,I can only hope has anyone else out there gone through this,having kidney cancer and then it go to your brain.Please I need to understand from someone elses point of view what they are going through.Penny

rosilita1 · 03-06-2001, 08:59 AM

i guess what you need to ask them is exactly how responsive is kidney cancer (i am sure you know the specific type) to radiation. they should be able to give you a percent. are they going to do whole brain radiation or pinpoint it exactly to the tumors? also have they done a whole body scan to check it hasn't spread anywhere else? What about the possibility of some type of chemo also that crosses the brain barrier (many chemo's don't work in the brain) Don't give up, the brain sounds so scary, but it could be cured if the whole picture is looked at accuratley.

pennygelinas · 04-12-2001, 09:04 PM

I have papillary renal cell carcinoma stage 4 I had the x-knife high dose radiation done on march 15th,they can not give me a percent ,they will only do whole brain radiation if these tumors grow anymore.I just had a bone scan done and yes they found 2 spots on my left arm they are going to do radiation to that in a week or so.I had a ct scan of my abd and pelvic follow up I had my kidney out in december,adrenal gland and 8 lymph nodes were affected,they took those out to.They found 1 lymph node that is enlarged they say chemo should take care of that.They want to start chemo in a week or so except they are doing another brain scan april 16th to see if those tumors havent grown anymore.If those tumors have grown then they want ot do whole brain radiation.They cant do chemo and whole brain radiation at the same time.Well I kept you up to date,thank you for responding to my message.Penny

bsp00071 · 04-15-2001, 10:48 PM

I'm going through my 3rd boubt with renal cell. I had a kidney removed in 1994 at age 22. Then in 1999, I had 2 ribs removed because a 15 cm tumor. Now, I have a 6cm tumor on the tissue where my kidney used to be, and also there are several nodules on my lungs. Sure, it's a little scary, but I keep a positive attitude about the whole situation. I'm about to find out what my next treatment will be (Bone Marrow Transplant or Immunotherapy)
Sorry to here about your situation, but keep you're head up and you'll be OK. Let me know how it's going!

pennygelinas · 04-17-2001, 07:34 PM

Brad,I hope everything goes okay for you I will be praying for you.They wantme to do that immune tharapy do you have siblings and did they get tested? I have two sisters and they got checked and I find out the results on the 27th if they are a match.I keep my head up and hope for the best.I didnt have my brain scan done I had an appointment but the wrong time so they need to reschedule.well keep in touch and i will do the same. penny