Hello and thank you for your post.

I am sorry to hear about your mum's situation and I can appreciate this may be a difficult position for you both.

Having cancer treatment can be difficult to cope with, however, how it can affect anyone will be difficult to predict.  Being older and/or with underlying health problems when having cancer treatment may make it more difficult to deal with the side effects. 

After each cycle of treatment is given the patient is checked and bloods are done to see if it is safe to carry on with the next cycle. Patients will be given information about the treatment and told what to look out for in terms of side effects and what to do if they become unwell. They will be given a telephone number to ring if they are unwell which will put them in touch with a nurse or doctor at the hospital. 

Generally speaking, if a doctor is concerned that it is not safe to carry on with treatment they will look to see if reducing the dose of treatment is a safe option, otherwise, they will stop it. Also, the person having the treatment may feel that there are just too many side effects and want to stop it.

There are targeted (immunotherapy ) treatments for advanced kidney cancer and for some types of bladder cancer. However, not everyone can have them. This is usually because their cancer does not have any genes or genetic pathways that can be targeted. This is something you or your mum may wish to ask your mum's clinical team about.  

Please get back to us if you need any more information or support.  You may find it helpful to talk things through with one of the nurses on our helpline.  The number to call is Freephone 0808 800 4040 and the lines are open from 9am till 5pm Monday to Friday.

Take care,

Caroline