
For both advanced kidney and lung cancer, immunotherapy is often an option. With metastatic
Metastatic Cancer
Metastatic involvement of the bone is one of the most frequent causes of pain in cancer patients
Full Answer
How are lung cancer and kidney cancer treated?
Lung cancer is often treated with chemotherapy or a combination of chemo and immunotherapy. At the same time, there is still some overlap in how kidney and lung cancer are treated. For both advanced kidney and lung cancer, immunotherapy is often an option.
What is the treatment for lung cancer with metastases?
It should be noted that with metastases in both lungs, several operations (cytoreductive nephrectomy and successive thoracotomy from different sides with the removal of metastases to the lungs) are not without reason a long and painful process.
What are the treatment options for metastatic kidney cancer?
Historically, the treatment of metastatic kidney cancer has gone through several stages: at the first stage, only surgical removal of metastases was used; in the second, since the mid-1970s, combined treatment was begun, including surgery and subsequent immunotherapy; at the third stage since 2006, combined treatment more often involves surgical...
What is the survival rate of bladder cancer with lung metastasis?
Long-term survival in metastatic bladder cancer is rare (4). It has been suggested that resection of isolated metastases of bladder cancer contributes to long-term survival, with five-year survival rates of up to 33% (6). CONCLUSION An unusual case of urothelial bladder cancer with large and extensive cavitating lung metastasis was presented.

What is the life expectancy of metastatic kidney cancer?
The 5-year survival rate for patients with RCC confined to the kidney is approximately 95%. However, metastases are known to occur in approximately 30% of cases, which confers a 5-year survival rate ranging from 0% to 20% for patients with metastatic disease.
Can kidney and lung cancer be cured?
A cure is not usually possible if the cancer has spread, although treatment can sometimes help keep it under control. Some people become unwell quickly, but others may live for several years and feel well despite having kidney cancer.
Is it common for lung cancer to spread to kidneys?
Despite the fact that the renal blood flow accounts for approximately 20% of the total cardiac output, the kidneys are not likely to develop blood-borne metastases. Clinically diagnosed isolated metastasis to the kidney from NSCLC is extremely rare.
Can you treat lung cancer that has metastasized?
Most of the time, surgery won't work for advanced lung cancer because it has spread. Most people with the disease can have treatment with a mix of radiation, chemotherapy, and targeted therapies -- drugs that attack specific parts of the cancer cells.
What is the best treatment for metastatic kidney cancer?
Currently, the most effective treatment for metastatic kidney cancer is often immunotherapy combinations that activate the immune system to attack cancer cells. These drugs have been shown to lengthen life when compared with standard treatment.
Where does lung cancer metastasis first?
Most lung cancers first spread to lymph nodes within the lung or around the major airways. 4 Lymph nodes are tiny organs clustered throughout the body that trap and filter foreign substances.
What is worse kidney or lung cancer?
Lung cancer is typically more aggressive than kidney cancer. Undetected, lung cancer may spread and eventually kill the patient,” said Dr.
What is the treatment for stage 4 lung cancer?
The standard management of stage IV lung cancer is palliative chemotherapy with platinum-based combination chemotherapy. However, there are some reports of patients with lung cancer with only a malignant pleural effusion and no other metastatic sites that have long-term cures with chemotherapy and surgery.
How successful is immunotherapy for kidney cancer?
Approximately 75% of all patients with advanced kidney cancer have intermediate- or poor-risk disease. At 18 months after initiating treatment, 75% of patients treated with the immunotherapy combination were still alive, compared with 60% of those treated with sunitinib.
How long can you live with lung metastases?
A patient with metastasis to the liver and lung has a median life expectancy of less than six months. A patient with widespread metastasis or with metastasis to the lymph nodes has a life expectancy of less than six weeks.
How do you know death is near with lung cancer?
The dying person often sweats and, even though the skin is cool, it may feel wet and clammy. They usually stop eating and drinking, and this is normal. They will not feel thirsty or hungry. As death gets closer, the person's breathing may change.
How long can you live with stage 4 lung cancer with chemo?
One study found that depending on the stage of the metastases (spread) the average survival time following diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer ranged from 6.3 months to 11.4 months.
Where do most distant metastases of kidney cancer occur?
The most often distant metastases of kidney cancer occur in the lungs. Patients with this pathology can be divided into 2 groups: patients who underwent radical nephrectomy, and metastases to the lungs appeared later (MO).
How long does a kidney cancer patient live?
The average life expectancy of patients with cancer of the kidney (MO) who received radical treatment, who subsequently developed lung metastases but did not undergo lung resection, was 18.4 months after nephrectomy (9 patients died due to tumor progression).
How long do people live after a lung resection?
At 8 people living now after a resection of the lungs has passed from 12 days to 993 days (32.7 months), an average of 17.7 months. 5 patients were resected lungs 2 and 3 times with an interval of 1-5 months. Of these, 3 are alive and lived an average of 24.3 months (2.0 years) after the first lung resection.
How many patients have distant metastases?
The situation is aggravated by the fact that at the time of primary treatment 32-34% of patients have distant metastases (Ml), and in 30-40% of radically operated patients they occur in the long term. Thus, more than half of the patients who have kidney cancer face the problem of distant metastases. The most often distant metastases of kidney ...
Is targeted therapy effective?
The use of targeted therapy has shown sufficient effectiveness, which led some experts to question the advisability of performing surgical interventions for this group of patients. However, most researchers still believe that the combination of surgical treatment and targeted therapy gives the best results. In the clinic of the Donetsk regional ...
Can thoracoscopic surgery be done in both lungs?
When there are metastases of kidney cancer in the lungs, multiple operations are justified. In the presence of metastases in both lungs, simultaneous two-way thoracoscopic operations can reduce the number of operations and improve the quality of life of patients.
What are lung metastases (lung mets)?
Lung metastases, or lung mets, are a secondary form of cancer caused by the kidney cancer (the primary cancer). These secondary cancers occur when cancer cells break free from the original tumor in the kidney and circulate in the blood or lymphatic system. When the cancer cells settle in the lungs, they form new, secondary cancer tumors.
What are the symptoms of lung mets?
Lung mets affect the respiratory system. Symptoms can mimic a cold or another respiratory infection. You should see your doctor if symptoms last for more than two weeks.
How are lung mets diagnosed?
At the time of the initial kidney cancer diagnosis, you’ll undergo tests to determine whether the cancer only affects a kidney, or if the cancer affects other parts of the body. This is called cancer staging. Staging helps your doctor choose the most effective treatments.
Could lung mets be lung cancer?
Yes, it’s possible that the tumors in the lungs are a primary lung cancer, and not kidney cancer that has spread to the lungs (lung mets). This distinction is important as the treatments for lung cancer and lung mets are different.
How are lung mets treated?
chemotherapy, drugs that circulate in the blood, targeting cancer cells throughout the body
What are other treatments for lung mets?
Lung mets symptoms like chest pain and shortness of breath can be difficult to live with. Your doctor may prescribe pain medicines or anti-anxiety drugs to ease symptoms.
What are complications of lung mets?
Lung mets can cause fluid to accumulate around the lungs. This condition, pleural effusion, prevents the lungs from taking in enough air. As a result, you constantly feel short of breath.
What is the treatment for kidney cancer?
Immunotherapy. Immunotherapy uses substances made in a lab or by your body to help your immune system fight kidney cancer. It's also called biologic therapy. There are three general types Checkpoint inhibitor medications have largely replaced treatments with interferon and IL-2 drugs.
What is metastatic renal cell carcinoma?
Metastatic renal cell carcinoma is cancer in your kidneys that has spread to other parts of your body. It's also called stage IV renal cell cancer. Cancer is harder to treat after it spreads, but it's not impossible. You and your doctor still have many options. Treatments for metastatic renal cell cancer include: ...
How long does it take to take nivolumab?
It takes about 30 minutes for each dose. Nivolumab is given every 2 to 4 weeks. Pembrolizumab is given every 3 weeks. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is a man-made version of proteins that your immune system makes called cytokines, which help destroy tumor cells. The medicine activates your immune system to attack the cancer.
What to do if kidney cancer doesn't work?
If you try a few and they don't work, ask your doctor about joining a clinical trial. These trials test new therapies for kidney cancer to see if they are safe and if they work.
What to do if you have cancer after surgery?
These treatments kill any cancer cells throughout your body that are left behind after surgery.
Does chemotherapy kill renal cancer?
Chemotherapy. Chemotherapy uses medicine to kill cancer cells all over your body. It can treat cancers that have spread. This treatment usually doesn't work very well for renal cell cancer. But it might be an option if you've already tried immunotherapy, targeted drugs, or both.
Can a nephrectomy be done if you have cancer?
Yet it can still be an option if your cancer has spread. Radical nephrectomy is the main operation for this type of cancer. During this procedure, your surgeon removes the: Kidney that has the tumor. Adrenal gland, which sits on top of that kidney.
What is the treatment for cancer?
That’s true whether the treatment is chemotherapy or radiation to zap the malignancy; immunotherapy that uses the body’s own immune system to fight cancer – which may be used when other approaches aren’t successful or have limited effectiveness; or surgery, which varies in extensiveness, to remove cancerous tissue.
What is the focus of metastatic cancer?
With metastatic cancer, the focus is generally on managing the cancer, to prevent or reduce further spread. Targeted treatments may also be used. These drugs may block the growth of blood vessels that feed tumors or target proteins that help cancer spread called growth factors.
What is the most common site of kidney cancer?
“The most common site of kidney cancer spread is lung metastasis ,” says Dr. Cortney V. Jones, an oncologist at DMC Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.
What kind of doctor treats bladder cancer?
Whatever your diagnosis, it’s important to see an expert in the cancer you have. For example, genitourinary oncologists treat kidney, prostate and bladder cancer, while general oncologists may also treat lung and kidney cancer. Clinicians say it's key to see someone with strong experience treating the cancer you have. [.
What is the term for cancer that spreads to other organs?
When cancers spread from their original site to other organs or parts of the body, they become, by definition, metastatic cancer . Kidney cancer, in particular, is a type of cancer that frequently metastasizes. That can happen when cancer cells spread to tissue surrounding the kidney, invade a blood vessel that leaves the kidney, ...
What happens when cancer spreads to the kidney?
That can happen when cancer cells spread to tissue surrounding the kidney, invade a blood vessel that leaves the kidney , spread to another nearby organ or get into the lymph system, which helps the body fight infection. With advanced kidney cancer, that metastasis often involves the spongy organs into which we inhale life-giving breaths.
How old do you have to be to get a lung CT scan?
Preventive Services Task Force, a panel of independent national experts, recommends annual screening for lung cancer using a low-dose CT scan for a select group: adults ages 55 to 80 years with a history of heavy smoking who currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. Doctors may also recommend that patients with a high risk ...
What is the best treatment for metastatic cancer?
Surgery or radiation therapy can also be used to help reduce pain or other symptoms of metastases in some other places, such as the bones. You can read more about palliative treatment for cancer in Palliative (Supportive) Care or in Advanced Cancer, Metastatic Cancer, and Bone Metastasis.
How to remove kidney cancer?
These cancers are usually removed with surgery when possible. There are two common approaches: 1 Partial nephrectomy (removing part of the kidney). This is often the treatment of choice in tumors up to 7 cm (a little less than 3 inches) if it can be done. 2 Radical nephrectomy (removing the entire kidney).
What is stage IV kidney cancer?
Stage IV kidney cancer means the cancer has grown outside of the kidney or has spread to other parts of the body such as distant lymph nodes or other organs. Treatment of stage IV kidney cancer depends on how extensive the cancer is and on the person’s general health. In some cases, surgery may still be a part of treatment.
What to do if you can't have kidney surgery?
If you can't have kidney surgery because of other serious medical problems, you might benefit from other local treatments such as cryotherapy or radiofrequency ablation. Radiation therapy may be another option. These treatments are generally only given when surgery can’t be done.
What is the treatment for cancer after surgery?
Treatment given after surgery is known as adjuvant therapy .
What is stage 3 cancer?
Stages I, II, or III. Stage I and II cancers are still contained in the kidney. Stage III cancers either have grown into nearby large veins or have spread to nearby lymph nodes. These cancers are usually removed with surgery when possible. There are two common approaches:
Does kidney removal help you live longer?
This is based on recent information that shows removal of the kidney in this case does not help people live longer. The first treatment choice would be systemic therapy, which might consist of two immunotherapy drugs, a targeted therapy drug with an immunotherapy drug, or a targeted therapy drug alone.
Where Bladder Cancer Can Spread
The bladder is a hollow organ that holds urine. It has flexible walls that are composed of several layers. When bladder cancer starts to spread, it grows through each layer of the bladder wall.
Symptoms and Complications
The first symptom of bladder cancer is usually blood in the urine. However, it’s possible to have blood in your urine and not see it. Laboratory testing can identify blood in urine, even when it’s not visible to the eye. As bladder cancer spreads, you may experience other symptoms, too. Advanced bladder cancer symptoms include: 5
Treatment Options
Treatments for metastatic bladder cancer can vary, based on things like how extensively your cancer has spread, your overall health and strength, and your current symptoms.
Living With Bladder Cancer
Bladder cancer symptoms and treatments can be overwhelming. No matter where you are on your treatment journey, you’ll need to meet with your healthcare provider for regular checkups and tests. Talking to your healthcare team about the next steps and what to expect can provide a road map during this time.
Prognosis
Metastatic bladder cancer is a challenging diagnosis. Your health, strength, and age will all play a role in your prognosis. How well your cancer responds to treatment is also a significant factor.
Summary
Metastatic bladder cancer is cancer that has spread outside of the bladder to other parts of the body. If you have metastatic bladder cancer, your treatment will be focused on destroying or slowing down cancer cells throughout your body, not just in your bladder.
A Word From Verywell
A diagnosis of metastatic bladder cancer can feel overwhelming, but there's treatment to help manage symptoms and slow disease progression. No matter where you are on your treatment journey, it's important to maintain regular appointments with your healthcare provider to keep your cancer under control.

Cancers Likely to Metastasize
How Cancer Spreads
- While normal cells can be thought of as being "sticky," since they have adhesion molecules that keep them in together in place, cancer cells are different. They do not make these adhesion molecules, allowing them to break free and travel as they please. When traveling, cancer cells may extend directly to the lungs, such as cancers that begin in the esophagus or chest wall. But mos…
Symptoms
- Lung metastases often do not cause any symptoms. When this is the case, the metastases may be found on a radiological exam, like a CT scan, done to look for the presence of the spread of cancer. If symptoms are present, they are often similar to symptoms of primary lung cancer, like:2 1. A persistent cough 2. Coughing up blood( called hemoptysis) or bloody sputum 3. Pai…
Diagnosis
- If your healthcare provider suspects that you have lung metastases, there are several tests she may consider. These include: 1. A chest X-ray (a chest X-ray can easily miss small metastases) 2. CT scan of the chest3 3. PET scan 4. Lung biopsy(either a needle biopsy or open lung biopsy) 5. Analysis of pleural fluid if a pleural effusion is present 6. Bronchoscopy The results of these ima…
Prognosis
- Unfortunately, cancer that has spread to the lungs (called stage 4 cancer) is usually not curable. That said, it is often very treatable, and your healthcare provider will talk with you about treatments that may lengthen your life, as well as give you the best quality of life possible. The survival rate, defined as the percentage of people who live five years or more after their cancer i…