A series of tests are required to diagnose one with kidney cancer. And once it is identified, the appropriate treatment is provided. There are four stages of kidney cancer; the severity of these stages and treatment options depend on the spread of the tumor and its locations.

When making treatment plans for stages of kidney cancer, it is always best to seek advice from a good doctor and go for clinical trials. In clinical trials, a doctor conducts research studies on the basis of the patient and gives them a prognosis on each step. In kidney cancer care, there are different doctors who work on each step to create a multidisciplinary team for the understanding of the severity. Urologists who major in the urinary tract, bladder, kidney, prostate, genitals, and testicles, Urologic oncologists who understand and treats cancer in the urinary tract, a medical oncologist who is trained to understand the medication to systemic treatments, lastly radiation oncologist who does radiation therapy to treat cancer. Let us look at the stages of kidney cancer and their related treatment options.

Stages
In stages 1 and 2 of kidney cancer, the tumor is inside the kidney. And stage 3 is where the tumor starts moving toward the lymph nodes. Stage 4 is the advanced level wherein chances of survival are low. But if the doctor diagnoses it early and can isolate the tumor from the lymph nodes and other parts it could generally help. Either way, surgery is required.

Treatment options
Stages 1 and 2 of kidney cancer can be treated with the help of surgery. When it moves to stage 3 and then 4 doctors try to remove the tumor and the metastasis. This way we can remove the cancer cells. If the cancer cells spread to other parts of the body mostly a portion of the same needs to be removed. If the cancer cells spread to veins, the only way is to put the human on life support for a short time because the heart will be stopped to remove the malignant cells from the blood that leads to the heart.

If Surgery is Not an Option
If one cannot treat the malignant cells with surgical removal, then options like emobilization, active surveillance, cryotherapy, and radiofrequency ablation are the available options. It is important to know that patients who have reached stage 4 kidney cancer have only a few months for their survival and it is of utmost importance to make them an environment inside the house that is hospitable to them. Make a doctor’s appointment for the patient and let them visit them quite often to be on a routine treatment. Then there are immunotherapy and target therapies. Immunotherapy is a treatment that uses the immunoglobulin of a healthy donor injected into the patient’s body. It is also called as healthy human plasma. Immune checkpoint inhibitors shall block the checkpoint proteins and they are used to remove malignant cells from one’s body. This is another non-surgical treatment for treating kidney cancer.

It’s important to be aware of the stages of kidney cancer and the corresponding treatment options used.