This week's artwork was donated by Dathan, a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia .
Surgical excision remains the only method of curing renal cell carcinoma.
Early ligation of the renal artery and vein, followed by radical nephrectomy with regional lymphadenectomy, seems to offer the best method of cure for patients with localized disease. Results of more extensive surgery have been encouraging, and surgical extirpation should be attempted even when the tumor involves the vena cava, adjacent organs, or a solitary kidney. Radiotherapy as a postoperative adjuvant has not been effective, and when used preoperatively, may decrease local recurrence but does not appear to improve 5-yr survival. A chemotherapeutic agent capable of significantly altering the course of metastastic renal cell carcinoma has not been identified. Vinblastine, the most effective currently available drug, rarely produces tumor regression.