Kidney cancer is a disease in the kidney that occurs due to excessive cell growth in the kidneys. Chemotherapy for kidney cancer is used as a treatment option. It is one of the treatments that can treat kidney cancer or RCC(renal cell carcinoma). There are different alternatives for kidney tumor treatment, but it totally depends on the type of kidney cancer. Chemotherapy is suggested by the doctors when other alternatives do not work properly.
In this blog, we will explain to you all the terms related to chemo for kidney cancer. You get to know about types of chemotherapy, drugs used in chemotherapy, side effects, and alternative options.
What is Chemotherapy?
It is a cancer treatment process that uses powerful drugs to kill cancer cells and prevent them from further growing. Doctors give chemotherapy treatment in cycles so that patients get some rest from these powerful drugs in between the cycles. These drugs can make a patient weak and tired because these drugs can damage cancer cells and their nearby tissue which resulting in weight loss.
These drugs can be given in different forms, such as IV, pills, and injections. Mainly, doctors prefer giving chemotherapy with surgery for better results. The survival rate of patients who are getting surgery & chemotherapy is higher than that of patients who are getting only surgery or chemotherapy. So it is better to have surgery + chemotherapy at a time for the best result and improved survival rate.
How does Chemotherapy Treat Kidney Cancer?
These drugs are so powerful that they kill and shrink the kidney tumor. It can not treat renal cancer alone, but it can reduce the tumor growth to some extent. Mainly, chemotherapy is used with surgery for the best results. For conditions like stage IV kidney cancer, chemo plays a part in the treatment plan. In some kidney cancer, surgery and immunotherapies do not work properly; here, the role of chemotherapy comes into play. There are different methods for giving chemotherapy, such as IV, injection, and pills.
What types of Chemotherapy Drugs are used in Kidney Cancer Treatment?
Here are some best chemotherapy drugs used in kidney cancer treatment:
- Dactinomycin: It plays a crucial role in curing renal cancer with targeted therapies.
- Vincristine: This drug helps in reducing the symptoms of kidney cancer.
- Capacitabine: It’s a drug used to treat renal cancer.
- Doxorubicin: It is also used in treating kidney cancer in combination with surgery.
- Gemcitabine: This drug is used with some other therapies for treating kidney cancer.
Note: Chemotherapy treatment is not a major treatment for renal cell carcinoma (RCC) or kidney cancer, but chemo drugs are used in rare cases of RCC or renal cancer treatment.
Different Ways of Giving Chemotherapy to a Kidney Cancer Patient
Here are some different ways to give chemotherapy to kidney cancer patients:
- Injections: It is the best way to directly target the cancerous cells inside the kidney through injection into the muscles.
- IV (Intravenous): Chemo drugs can be given directly through intravenous into the veins. It is a fast technique used to transfer drugs to the targeted area and kill cancer cells.
- Oral pills: Oral chemotherapy is also a good option for kidney cancer treatment. Oral pills are effective as the other two methods, but it is slower than those two in taking action against cancerous cells.
What are the Side Effects of Chemotherapy?
Here are some side effects of chemotherapy:
- Hair Loss: These powerful chemo drugs can cause hair loss in cancer patients.
- Weight Loss: These drugs also kill the tissue near the cancerous cells, which results in weight loss in tumor patients.
- Fatigue: Taking powerful medications can result in fatigue in the long run.
- Sore Mouth: After taking chemotherapy drugs, patients experience a problem with having a sore mouth because of the salts that are mixed in medicine of cancer.
- Nausea: It is a common side effect of chemotherapy drugs and can be solved through cold or small meals.
Alternatives to Chemotherapy for Kidney Cancer
Here are some alternatives to chemo for kidney cancer:
- Surgery: It is used by doctors as a first treatment option for cancer because there is a high chance that cancer can be removed only by removing cancerous cells through surgery. Surgery is preferred over chemotherapy because it is a faster recovery option.
- Targeted Therapy: It is another alternative to chemotherapy, which is faster than chemotherapy in killing cancerous cells. It targets directly the cancerous tissues.
- Immunotherapy: This type of treatment is used to improve the immunity of cancer patients so that their own immunity fights against the cancerous cells and kills them without using external medicines.
Conclusion
Chemotherapy for kidney cancer is one of the best treatment option, but there are also other alternatives available in the field of healthcare, like surgery and immunotherapy, which work better in some cases. So it is up to your doctor which one they prefer according to your stage of kidney cancer. So, in this blog, we will give you information on the types of drugs used, different ways of giving chemotherapy, and its side effects on post-cancer patients.