Some facts on RCC and HL

Renal cell carcinoma, also known by a gurnistical tumor, is the most common form of kidney cancer. It is the most common type of kidney cancer in adults. Initial therapy is with surgery. It is notoriously resistant to radiation therapy and chemotherapy, although some cases it responds to immunotherapy.

Renal cell carcinoma affects about three in 10,000 people, resulting in about 31,000 new cases in the US per year. Every year, about 12,000 people in the US die from renal cell carcinoma. It is more common in men than women, usually affecting men older than 55.

Why the cells become cancerous is not known. A history of smoking greatly increases the risk for developing renal cell carcinoma. Some people may also have inherited an increased risk to develop renal cell carcinoma, and a family history of kidney cancer increases the risk.

If it is only in the kidneys, which is about 40% of cases, it can be cured roughly 90% of the time with surgery. If it has spread outside of the kidneys, often into the lymph nodes or the main vein of the kidney, then it must be treated with chemotherapy and other treatments.

Surgical removal of all or part of the kidney (nephrectomy) is recommended.
The five-year survival rate is around 90-95% for tumors less than 4 cm. For larger tumors confined to the kidney without venous invasion, survival is still relatively good at 80-85%.

* NOTE: The mass on my kidney was measured at 7.5 x 5.5 cm

If it has metastasized to the lymph nodes, the 5-year survival is around 5 % to 15 %. If it has spread metastatically to other organs, the 5-year survival at less than 5 %.

Hodgkin's lymphoma, formerly known as Hodgkin's disease, is a type of lymphoma first described by Thomas Hodgkin in 1832. Hodgkin's lymphoma is characterized clinically by the orderly spread of disease from one lymph node group to another. Pathologically, the disease is characterized by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells. Hodgkin's lymphoma was one of the first cancers to be rendered curable by combination chemotherapy.

Unlike other lymphomas, whose incidence increases with age, Hodgkin's lymphoma occurs more frequently in two separate age groups, the first being young adulthood (age 15–35), the second being in those over 55 years old. Overall, it is more common in men than in women. The incidence of Hodgkin's disease is about 1 in 25,000 people per year, and accounts for slightly less than 1% of all cancers worldwide

Stage I is involvement of a single lymph node region.

Stage II is involvement of two or more lymph node regions on the same side of the diaphragm
* NOTE: I believe I am between Stage 2 and 3 at this point. (my spleen is enlarged)

Stage III is involvement of lymph node regions on both sides of the diaphragm, which may include the spleen

Stage IV is disseminated involvement of one or more extralymphatic organs.

Currently, the ABVD chemotherapy regimen is the gold standard for treatment of Hodgkin's disease. The abbreviation stands for the four drugs Adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine. Developed in Italy in the 1970s, the ABVD treatment typically takes between six and eight months. Another form of treatment is the newer Stanford V regimen, which is typically only half as long as the ABVD but which involves a more intensive chemotherapy schedule and incorporates radiation therapy.

With appropriate treatment, over 85% of Hodgkin's lymphoma cases are curable.

In other news: Today we met with my Urologist Dr G to discuss surgery next Tuesday. I learned that I may end up with one of three possible incisions and that the surgery can be really simple if the kidney cancer has one blood source or more complicated if more than one blood source is involved. The procedure should take 2 hours and I should be in the hospital until Thursday.

Dr. G is very optimistic about the procedure and my ability to heal considering my age etc, etc. He advised the chances of having RCC show up on the other kidney someday is maybe 2%.

Tomorrow I have pre-admin testing for Surgery. Probably just blood work and supposedly a chest x-ray at St. Claires. I also have to locate my slides from my neck biopsy for Dr.'s at St. Claire's to review before next week. Because of HIPPA laws only I can sign for them and shuttle them back and forth.

Lucky me.