Table of Contents:

General Information: What Is Renal Cell Carcinoma (Kidney Cancer) - Understand the nature of the diseases.

Cellular Classification - Understand the pathophysiology of different types of kidney cancer.  

Clinical Appearance and Staging - Pretreatment stage is the most important prognostic factor for kidney cancer patients.  

Treatment of the diseases - If found early, carcinoma of the kidney are surgically curable. 

How is Renal Cell Carcinoma Treated - Understand the treatment for each stage of kidney cancer.  

Renal Cell Carcinoma Treatment: An Update  - Updated Information on Renal Cell Carcinoma treatment. Coming Soon.

General Information: What Is Renal Cell Carcinoma?

Renal cell cancer, also called renal adenocarcinoma, or hypernephroma, can often be cured if it is diagnosed and treated when still localized to the kidney and to immediately surrounding tissue. The probability of cure is directly related to the stage or degree of tumor dissemination. Even when regional lymphatics or blood vessels are involved with tumor, a significant number of patients can achieve prolonged survival and probable cure.1 When distant metastases are present, disease-free survival is poor, although occasional selected patients will survive after surgical resection of all known tumor. Because a majority of patients are diagnosed when the tumor is still relatively localized and amenable to surgical removal, approximately 40% of all patients with renal cancer survive 5 years. Occasional patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease may exhibit indolent courses lasting several years. Late tumor recurrence many years after initial treatment occasionally occurs.

Renal cell cancer is one of the few tumors in which well-documented cases of spontaneous tumor regression in the absence of therapy exist, but this occurs very rarely and may not lead to long-term survival. Surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment of this disease. Even in patients with disseminated tumor, locoregional forms of therapy may play an important role in palliating symptoms of the primary tumor or of ectopic hormone production. Systemic therapy has demonstrated only limited effectiveness.

Cellular Classification

Approximately 85% of renal cell cancers are adenocarcinomas, for the most part of proximal tubular origin. Most of the remainder are transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis (refer to the PDQ summary on Transitional Cell Cancer of the Renal Pelvis and Ureter Treatment for more information). Adenocarcinomas may be separated into clear cell and granular cell carcinomas, although the 2 cell types may occur together in some tumors. Some investigators have found that granular cell tumors have a worse prognosis, but this finding is not universal. The distinction between well-differentiated renal adenocarcinomas and renal adenomas can be difficult. The diagnosis is usually made arbitrarily on the basis of size of the mass, but size alone should not influence the treatment approach, since metastases can occur with lesions as small as 0.5 centimeters.

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For More Information On Renal Cell Carcinoma:
Visit Renal Cell Carcinoma Guide of The Cancer Information Network
Date Modified: 05/15/02