Your kidneys are two bean-shaped organs in your lower back that filter your blood. Kidney cancer, one of the 10 most common cancers in the U.S., is when cells inside a kidney grow out of control.
Nine out of 10 kidney cancers are renal cell carcinoma. Most people get cancer in only one kidney, but it is possible to get tumors in both kidneys.
How Kidney Cancer Is Diagnosed
Most kidney cancers have no symptoms until they are at an advanced stage. Many kidney cancers are diagnosed when someone is getting care for something else, such as imaging to rule out a kidney stone or an abnormal finding in a blood test.
Only an imaging test can properly diagnose kidney cancer. However, blood and urine tests can identify that you have a problem that needs more testing. For example, you may have anemia, or not enough red blood cells. You may have signs of blood in your urine or show signs of decreased kidney function. Or you may have cancer cells in your urine.
If your doctor recommends imaging, you may have a CT scan, ultrasound or X-ray. These images will provide more information for your doctors about the best way to treat you.
Some kidney tumors are benign, or noncancerous. You may need a biopsy to determine what kind of tumor you have. During a biopsy, a small sample of tissue is removed, then sent for testing.
Staging Kidney Cancer
If doctors find a tumor, doctors will perform tests to learn as much about the cancer as they can, including what type of cancer it is, whether and how much it has spread and the best treatment. This process is called staging.
Stages of kidney cancer include:
- Stage I: The cancer is less than 3 inches across and has not spread outside of the kidney.
- Stage II: The tumor is larger than 3 inches but still only inside the kidney.
- Stage III: The tumor can be any size. It may be growing into a major vein, the tissue around the kidney, and nearby lymph nodes. It hasn’t grown into nearby glands, distant lymph nodes or distant organs.
- Stage IV: A tumor of any size has grown outside of the kidney, including nearby glands or lymph nodes. It may or may not be in distant lymph nodes or other organs.
Do I Need to Treat My Kidney Cancer?
When you find out you have cancer, the best course of action may be no treatment at all. If your tumor is very small, and you have other health problems that mean you want to avoid surgery, you may be a good candidate for active surveillance.
Through active surveillance, you will get more imaging every three to four months to check if your tumor has grown. RUSH MD Anderson Cancer Center has imaging locations throughout the Chicago area, so you can have your tests done at a location that works for you.
If something changes, our doctors are ready to act quickly to remove your tumor. However, most small renal tumors less than 2 centimeters (just over half an inch) wide don’t grow or change.
Meet our kidney cancer providers
Treating Kidney Cancer: Surgery
Kidney cancer treatment starts with surgery to remove the tumor. Many people have only part of their kidney removed. A large tumor may result in removal of the entire kidney.
Surgeons at RUSH MD Anderson have years of training and experience removing kidneys with a surgical robot. The robot-assisted surgery uses multiple small cuts, which means less pain and a shorter recovery.
Surgeons using the robot can move their instruments more easily and with more precision. Most people who have their kidney removed have a robot-assisted surgery.
The ultimate goal of any surgery for kidney cancer is removal of the tumor, with good margins, meaning there are no remaining cancer cells left behind. If your cancer has spread outside the kidneys (whether to nearby lymph nodes, the tissue around your kidneys, distant lymph nodes or another organ), you may need surgery to remove that growth.
On the day of your surgery, you will come to RUSH MD Anderson at Rush University Medical Center. You will be given anesthesia. Our surgeons will remove your tumor. If you need a partial kidney removal, your kidney will be rebuilt to preserve as much kidney function as possible.
If you had robot-assisted surgery, you will stay overnight and go home the next day. Most people need two to four weeks to fully recover.
Some people with kidney cancer need a traditional, open surgery. This uses a single, long incision to allow the surgeon to remove your kidney and the surrounding tissue. For those who need an open procedure, a longer stay (about a week) in the hospital and a longer recovery period (about six weeks) is expected.
Treating Kidney Cancer: Local Therapies
If you have other health problems that make kidney cancer surgery a risk, you have other options besides surgery. RUSH MD Anderson uses three methods to destroy cancer cells without surgery: stereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT; cryotherapy; and radiofrequency ablation, or RFA.
SBRT uses a high dose of radiation delivered precisely. This means you get the treatment benefits of radiation without damaging surrounding tissues. You may need one session of SBRT, or multiple sessions over a couple of weeks.
During cryotherapy, a hollow needle is inserted into the tumor. Then, cold gases are passed through, creating an ice ball at the tip. The extreme cold of the ice ball destroys the cancer cells.
RFA uses heat to destroy the tumor. Similar to cryotherapy, a needle is inserted into the tumor. An electric current passes through the needle, heating the tumor until the cancer cells are destroyed.
Treating Kidney Cancer: Systemic Therapy
For early-stage kidney cancers, surgical removal of the tumor takes out all the cancer. However, if your cancer has grown outside of the kidney, additional treatment may be needed.
In recent years, targeted therapy and immunotherapy have become options for treating advanced renal cell carcinoma. These are often used in combination with surgery.
Targeted therapy uses drugs that are laser-focused on preventing the growth of new cancer cells. Targeted therapy can prevent the growth or survival of cancer cells. Common side effects may include nausea, diarrhea, changes in skin or hair color, mouth sores, low blood cell counts, high blood pressure and weakness and fatigue.
If you need targeted therapy, RUSH MD Anderson specialists will walk you through what to expect. We treat patients with advanced disease every day and have the tools available to support you through any side effects.
Immunotherapy involves drugs that recruit the body’s own immune system to fight cancer cells. They can also come with their own side effects, including fatigue, skin rashes and nausea and vomiting. Our team is well-prepared to manage these issues and make sure you get the level of care you need.
Chemotherapy (or chemo) is a common cancer treatment that delivers anti-cancer drugs into the bloodstream to reach the entire body. The most common type of kidney cancer, renal cell carcinoma, doesn’t respond well to most chemo drugs. Depending on your type of kidney cancer, you may still need chemo to appropriately treat your disease.
Choosing RUSH MD Anderson for Kidney Cancer Care
- Nationally ranked experts focused on you: Our cancer specialists are ranked among the best in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. Rush University Medical Center’s urology program is recognized as a high-performing program.
- Breakthrough treatments: Rush was one of the first health systems in the nation to treat kidney cancer with combination immunotherapy that boosts the body’s own immune system to fight cancer and offers a better chance at a longer life. Through these innovative therapies, survival rates have risen to five years or more from what used to be a year or less. Rush also is one of few Chicago-area hospitals to use a treatment that attacks hard-to-reach tumors with bursts of electricity.
- Leading research studies: Through RUSH MD Anderson, you will benefit from a wide range of clinical trials and research. These may include some of the latest advancements to improve survival rates and quality of life.
FAQs About Kidney Cancer Treatment
Often, kidney cancer has no symptoms.
Some common signs of kidney cancer include:
- Blood in the urine
- Anemia
- Soreness or a lump in the lower back with an unknown cause
- Unexplained weight loss and fatigue
Because these symptoms can have many causes (including kidney cancer), your doctor will perform tests to figure out what’s going on.
Having a family member with kidney cancer places you at higher risk of getting kidney cancer. If multiple family members have been diagnosed, your risk is higher. The risk is highest for those with brothers or sisters who have had kidney cancer.
Sometimes, inherited conditions that affect your genes may impact your risk of kidney cancer. For example, sickle cell anemia is an inherited condition that causes a change in red blood cells. If you have sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait, you are at an increased risk of a rare type of kidney cancer.
Targeted therapy drugs prevent the growth of new kidney cancer cells. They are more tailored to the specific makeup of kidney cancer cells than general chemotherapy drugs are.
The side effects of targeted therapy can include weakness and fatigue, hair and skin color changes, nausea, vomiting and weight loss. Your team will help you understand what side effects to expect with your specific treatments.
It depends on whether your surgery was minimally invasive (often using a surgical robot) or an open procedure. Most people who have a minimally invasive procedure stay overnight. Those with an open procedure stay longer, up to a week.
Yes. If your kidney needs to be totally removed, our surgeons are well trained in minimally invasive surgical techniques using a surgical robot.
Depending on the size and location of your cancer, as well as your overall health, treatments may involve nonsurgical options. They may include: stereotactic body radiation therapy, or SBRT; radiofrequency ablation, or RFA; or cryotherapy.
SBRT uses very targeted beams of radiation to treat your tumor. RFA uses high-frequency radio waves to destroy cancer cells. Cryotherapy uses very cold temperatures to destroy cancer cells.
It depends. Many early-stage kidney cancers can be totally removed. We will help you understand your diagnosis.
For everyone with kidney cancer, across all stages, there is a 78% survival rate five years after diagnosis. The rate is much higher for localized kidney cancer, at 93%.
Removing the tumor from your kidney through surgery is the first and best option. Whether you need additional treatment will depend on if and how much your kidney cancer has spread.
