Stage or grade??? Which is the stronger factor for predicting reoccurance or metastasis?

[Mocna]

Just wondering what you all think... If you had to choose would you prefer stage 1 grade 3, or stage 3 grade 1?

Its a silly question probably... But I'm just curious

[Mocna]

And obviously we would all prefer to have NO CANCER... but if you had to choose what would it be

[MICHIGANDAVID]

My wife is mRCC Stage 4...

[greg1976]

I would rather the Stage be higher and the Grade is lower. All my life I always strive for a higher grade except for cancer. In cancer, I want a failing grade of 1. I was told by my original Urologist that he was more concerned with the grade as a factor of reoccurrence. Having said that, no one can predict a reoccurrence and having been NED for three years with grade 4, stage 4 I will always have it in the back of my mind. With your grade 3, I would stay on top of it but not let it consume you. Easy to say because I thought of my grade 4 for years but I do not let it consume me now.

[Mocna in reply to greg1976]

Ugh.... Now I just feel like throwing up.

[Mocna in reply to greg1976]

It actually is consuming me... And I am just falling apart..... And don't know how to help myself. It's awful.

[greg1976 in reply to Mocna]

I would not be that worried, at stage 1 it would indicate to me that it was just starting so you had an earlier intercept of the disease. Just because you are grade 3 doesn't mean there is anything in your body anymore. It really did not have a chance to take hold. The later stages would indicate to me a higher chance of spread as the growth of Renal Cell Carcinoma is really slow and thus, would have more time to spread. Just remember, stage 1, it just STARTED and they caught it quickly. You are blessed.

[Mocna in reply to greg1976]

Thank you for that. I've been driving myself CRAZY over this. Your comment really helped 😊

[Hampner in reply to Mocna]

I agree with Greg. Rcc is a very slow growing disease. If they caught yours at stage 1. That is so early I just don’t see how it had a chance to even get settled in.

I have stage 4, it’s funny but I never asked the grade. I’ve been on treatment since November 2014. Maybe I’ll ask about my grade. Lol. Don’t know if you go to church but my church has given great comfort.

[sewon]

I have UTUC so it is probably different for me. Mine is high grade stage 2. I think I would prefer low grade stage 3 honestly although if I had not done research I may have preferred stage 2 high grade.....

[Mocna in reply to sewon]

The thing I don't understand is if they cut the tumor out with clear margins and it's stage 1,no lymph node involvement... Why is the grade then important? They test the cells in the tumor... And they've taken out the tumor.... So no cancerous cells are left behind. So why does the grade matter so much?

[sewon]

I believe that a high grade tumor is more likely to have had cells go elsewhere in the body and later you find out you are stage 4. I surely would accept any stage 1 diagnosis because chances are it has not been around long enough to have gone anywhere else in the body. Right now there are a couple of places in my body that may be showing signs of a metastisis. I will be having more tests later to find out if the cancer has spread.

[Mocna in reply to sewon]

When were you diagnosed? And what stage and grade were you? Sorry if you've already answered this. Were you grade 3 or grade 4? Did you have clear margins? DID you have lymph node involvement? How big was your tumor?

[sewon]

No problem. I was officially diagnosed December 20th when they removed my left kidney. UTUC is harder to biopsy than bladder cancer and possibly RCC although I am not sure how biopsing RCC works. I am high grade stage 2 invasive urothelial carcinoma at the moment. I had symptoms for about a year with visible blood in the urine on and off and I was treated for UTIs. My doctor did want me to see a urologist a couple of months before I went. I really didn't want to go because I knew I couldn't afford the tests. We finally put some bills aside and got the tests. Wish I would have done it sooner....