For the majority of patients diagnosed with kidney cancer, I can see a blank stare after they hear the word “cancer.” Even though I may counsel the patients for a long time in the office and offer them reading materials, there amount of information that most patients are hit with is overwhelming.
I encourage patients and their family member to take time to read through the paper materials provided in the office, but also read information that is found on appropriate websites with information that has been reviewed by physicians and researchers. Although there are multiple patient blogs that describe personal patient experiences, they may be misunderstood and misconstrued by most patients as everyone’s cancer presentation and options do not apply to every other kidney cancer patient.
Here is a list of several trusted websites I would recommend checking out:
1. Kidney Cancer Association – one of the best organized and most comprehensive website about kidney cancer including disease description, treatment options, clinical research trials.
2. American Cancer Society – large kidney cancer section on their website is also a valuable resource.
3. Urology Care Foundation – sponsored by the American Urological Association, this patient oriented organization is focused on education.
If you are tech savvy and using Twitter, it may be useful to “follow” the above web side “feeds” so that if there is a new publication, new study or research , you may immediately see the updates and news as soon as they get published. Also feel free to follow this website twitter feed to see any updates on new technologies and clinical research that I find to be be significant for all patients to know about.