Michela Murgia died of a stage IV tumor. What is renal cell carcinoma: the numbers in Italy and the symptoms
Of Jacopo Romeo Published on August 11, 2023
The writer and activist Michelle Murgia passed away yesterday due to terrible disease that had hit her some time ago. The renal cell carcinoma della Murgia had reached stage IV and “From here there is no turning back” – she had declared last May. However, it does not always go this way: experts argue that a kidney tumoreven so advanced, may not be a definitive condemnation.
What is renal cell carcinoma, the tumor that struck Michela Murgia
“The positive fact is that tumors are most often found when they are still confined within the kidneyi.e. in the early stage: in stage I (less than 7 cm) or in stage II (above 7 cm)” – remember Sergio Bracarda, the Director of the complex structure of medical and translational Oncology and of the Oncology department at the Santa Maria di Terni Hospital and President of the Italian Society of Uro-Oncology. The Murgia, however, was afflicted by a carcinoma that reached the IV stage: a tumor that it can also affect distant organs. Despite this, however, cancer can be operable: “Until recently, stage IV disease was referred to as inoperableWhile today this assumption is being challenged when dealing with oligometastatic patients, i.e. with few metastases.” Even if in the metastatic phase, therefore, in some cases the disease can be removed through surgery and radiotherapy practices, but it is not always possible to resort to the operation. When you are faced with a inoperable stage IV renal cell carcinoma we proceed with the administration of drugs that they can limit the action of the tumor. “Until 10 years ago the survival at 5 years it was about 5%, while today it stands at around 40%” – explains Barcarda, speaking of numbers that have more than quintupled in just a few years thanks to scientific research.
The numbers and symptoms of kidney cancer in Italy
Il renal cell carcinoma it is not one of the most frequent tumors: of all the solid tumors affecting adults it represents only the 3% con 12,600 thousand cases in 2022 (7,800 in men and 4,800 in women). The problem with this type of tumor is that its symptoms are mistaken for those of a simple case of kidney stones. For this reason, very often the diagnosis is made late or discovered by chance, when the patient does not expect it. In general, the most frequent signals are the presence of blood in the urine and a fort flank pain. Il cigarette smokeas for many other tumours, it affects as a risk factor, as does theobesity and thehypertension.