Best Hospitals/Treatment Centers/Doctors for Kidney Cancer? Please help?

My mother is 41 and going through treatment for Stage 4 Renal Cell Carcinoma. We're on our 3rd treatment and I'd like to get information about the best places to treat kidney cancer as well as the best doctors to see for RCC. Please respond to this if you have any info/feedback.

We are from Michigan. My mom's cancer is stage 4 and has spread to the lungs (one more than the other) and a little in the abdomen. She's tried a few different treatments.. (She had a nephrectomy done) 1. Cryotherapy on the lungs where cancer had spread 2. Sutent 3. IL-2 Treatments. Now she's going through a form of chemo. called Torisol (sp?). I'm just trying to do a little research in case (God forbid) this treatment, like the past ones, does not give us any results.

The most recent advances in Renal Cell Cancer have been worked on by physicians from the Cleveland Clinic. Look up Brian Rini, MD. They're fairly close to Michigan.

Pl. give more details :
1. Where are you from ?
2. What treatment is she on now ? Interferons or Chemo ?
3. What do you mean by "we are on our 3rd treatment" ?

4. My mom,70, is on Interferon injections, since 10 days now, as the RCC has affected 30% of the Liver. I am going to get and USG abdomen/liver next week to see if Interferon has helped shrink the tumor a bit or not. Though her general condition has improved since she took them.
5. Next option for her is the oral drug SUNITIB by Pfizer. But it comes under Cemotherapy and has side effects like high BP and heart related risks. Though it is known to work well, if you can afford the cost and the side effects.

First of all sorry for what your mum and your family are going thru she is far too young to be suffering so young. I will give you my story i hope it helps and doesn't upset you. My mum was diagnosed with RCC in may last year. At first they thought it was confined to the right kidney and there where going to remove it.(tumor was 5 cm) That was until they did a ct scan where they discovered Mum had three 3cm tumors in her liver and numerous 'spots' on her lungs. After numerous tests etc Mum was rescanned approx 6 weeks after first diagnoses and the prognosis was terrible. She was stage 4 incurable (i was told by the urologist and oncologist that once kidney cancer has spread there is NO cure the only treatment will extend time) We where told that the tumor on the kidney was now biggr than the kidney itself. one of the tumors in the liver had grown to OVER 12cm and others had developed and the tumors in the lungs had doubled and multiplied. From my understanding kidney cancer is extremely hard to treat esp when it has spread because it doesn't respond to traditional forms of chemo. The oncologist decided to put Mum on 'sutent' it is a trial drug here in Melbourne so they new little about it. It was July 26 when she started taking it and it was the WORST thing we could have done. Prior to treatment Mum was still able to eat and do Small things but a couple of days into treatment she wss bed ridden, lost control of her bowels and bladder, couldn't walk etc. She slept all day and was nausea constantly. We persisted with the drug for 2 weeks cos it was Mums only chance at trying to extend her life. But in hindsight we would have been better just to let her enjoy what time she had left. She pasted away Sept7 after only a 4 month battle, aged 60. It was very aggressive and very traumatic. Again, this is MY story and your Mum might have a better prognosis, if you have Any questions or need to know ANYTHING i will listen. x