Kidney Cancer Treatment
At either the Keyserling Cancer Center in Beaufort and New River Cancer Center in Okatie, you'll find the team, tools and technology to help you fight kidney cancer with confidence.
Treatment of cancer depends on many factors, including your overall health and wellness, the stage of the cancer (early or advanced) and your personal feelings around certain treatments and their possible side effects. Our goal is to keep you feeling well throughout treatment without major changes to your usual routine. You may qualify for one of our cutting-edge cancer clinical trials, offering promising new therapies before they become widely available.
Find a kidney cancer specialist anytime online.
Advanced Surgical Options
Usually surgery will be the first step. Because we have two kidneys, it’s possible to live a full and healthy life with only one. Your doctor may remove some or all of a kidney to treat your cancer. There are three types of kidney cancer surgery:
- Radical Nephrectomy is the most common procedure. It removes the kidney, adrenal gland and surrounding tissue. The lymph nodes near the kidney often are also removed.
- Simple Nephrectomy removes only the kidney.
- Partial Nephrectomy is performed in some cases if your doctor in concerned that a radical nephrectomy might hurt your other kidney. It may also be done with smaller tumors, usually 1.5 inches or smaller. It removes the cancer and some tissue around it.
Whenever possible, Beaufort Memorial’s skilled surgeons perform the nephrectomy using the da Vinci® Robotic Surgical System—the most minimally invasive technology available today.
This system allows your surgeon to operate with just a few tiny incisions, plus 3D, high-definition vision and enhanced precision and control. This may offer you a variety of benefits, including:
- Less pain and scarring
- Less risk of infection
- Less blood loss and fewer transfusions
- A shorter hospital stay
- Faster recovery
- Quicker return to normal activities
If both kidneys must be removed, or if neither of them is working, you may need dialysis, which uses a machine to clean your blood the way a healthy kidney normally would.
Radiation Therapy
Radiation therapy uses high-energy x-rays or other types of radiation to kill cancer cells or stop them from growing. At Beaufort Memorial, we use a state-of-the-art machine, the TruBeam linear accelerator, to deliver powerful and precise treatment to the tumor. With kidney cancer, radiation therapy is often used to help relieve symptoms in patients who cannot have surgery.
Contact us online for answers to your questions about radiation treatment, or call 843-522-7800 in Beaufort or 843-273-7980 in Okatie.
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is typically a less effective for treatment for kidney cancer than for some other cancers. It uses anti-cancer drugs that may be injected into the vein or taken by mouth as pills.
Hormone Therapy
In rare cases, hormone treatments may be used to decrease the size of existing tumors, but it will not remove the presence of the tumor or reduce the number of cancerous cells in the body. It is best used to help relieve the symptoms of kidney cancer.
Total Support for the Journey
We’re committed to caring for the whole you, and providing the resources you and your loved ones need to manage a cancer diagnosis. You’ll find a full range of cancer support services—from education to support groups—to meet your needs. And you’ll have your own nurse navigator and social worker to help guide you along your journey.