100 Questions & Answers about Kidney Cancer

Introduction v Foreword ix Part 1: The Basics 1 Questions 1 to 4 answer basic questions about the urinary system, such as: What is kidney cancer? Where are the kidneys located in the body? What do the kidneys normally do? Part 2: Causes and Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer 9 Questions 5-21 discuss various types of kidney cancer and the causes: How common is kidney cancer? Are there different types of kidney cancer? What causes kidney cancer? Can kidney cancer be prevented? Part 3: Evaluation 35 Questions 22-33 discuss important issues in the doctor's office, such as: What are the typical signs and symptoms of kidney cancer? What kind of doctor should I be seeing? What tests are usually performed? Part 4: Staging of Renal Cell Carcinoma 59 Questions 34-42 deal with staging of kidney cancer and how it spreads: How is kidney cancer staged? What does tumor grade mean? Where does kidney cancer spread to? Do patients die from kidney cancer? Part 5: Treatment: Localized Disease 79 Questions 43-57 answer questions regarding treatment of cancer confined to the kidney: How is kidney cancer treated? What is a radical nephrectomy? What is laparoscopy? What other treatment options are there? Part 6: Treatment: Locally Advanced Disease 115 Questions 58-63 discuss treatment of locally advanced kidney cancer: What is the treatment for locally advanced (stage III) kidney cancer? What is an adjuvant treatment? Part 7: Treatment: Metastatic Disease 127 Questions 64-71 deal with cancer that has spread beyond the kidney: What are the treatment options for metastatic kidney cancer (stage 4)? What is the prognosis for patients with metastatic kidney cancer? What other options are there for metastatic kidney cancer? Part 8: Immunotherapy 137 Questions 72-77 deal with the procedure of immunotherapy: What is immunotherapy? What is a stem cell transplant? Part 9: Targeted Molecular Therapy 147 Questions 78-94 discuss various molecular treatments of kidney cancer: What is "targeted molecular" therapy? How were the targeted molecular agents developed? What new agents are on the horizon? Part 10: Clinical Trials 167 Questions 95-100 aim to help the kidney cancer patient navigate their way through various clinical trials and how to choose the right one: What is a clinical trial? How do I know that someone is making sure that the clinical trials are conducted in a safe and ethical manner? How can I learn more about clinical trials? How can I learn more about kidney cancer? Glossary 175 Index 183