KIDNEY CANCER DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A DEATH SENTENCE

Renal cell carcinoma or RCC is by far the most common type of cancer originating in the kidney, making up about nine out of 10 of kidney cancer diagnosis. Like most cancers, RCC usually does not cause obvious symptoms, especially in the early stages. As a result, the cancer may not be discovered until it is advanced, which is mostly the case of patients who see us. percent Here of in patients the Philippines, we saw al- 70 ready have metastatic or stage 4 RCC (cancer cells have already spread to new areas of the body, including lungs, bones, and less often, the brain). Not long ago this was pretty much a death sentence. But through a better understanding of factors that distinguish cancer cells from normal ones and the development of more specific treatments that capitalize on those differences, RCC are now being controlled for years while the patients conduct nearnormal lives. Although kidney cancer is the 16th most common cause of death from cancer, survival rates are relatively high in developed countries (In the United States alone, it’s 72 percent after five years and 92 percent for the two thirds of cases that are diagnosed in the early stages). Unfortunately, these high survival rates are not seen in developing countries including the Philippines. Interestingly, there are now so-called targeted drugs that are proving to be especially important in kidney cancer treatment. These newer drugs target some of the molecular and genetic changes in cells that cause cancer. They oftentimes work when standard chemotherapy drugs don’t—and they often have different and more tolerable side effects. Among these targeted therapy include the Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors or TKIs, drugs that block a group of enzymes called tyrosine kinases from sending signals that tell cancer cells to grow. Without this signal, the cancer cells die. Thanks in part to targeted therapy, we are seeing patients living year after year with advanced disease. A few years ago, we would not have guessed this would be possible.

Dr. Jorge Ignacio is a consultant medical oncologist and Chairman of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital Cancer Institute.

The Healthy Kidneys column supports the commemoration of World Kidney Cancer Day.