Kidney Cancer: Facts, Normal Function & Treatments

Fundamental Details about Kidney Cancer
What Goes On Under Normal Conditions?
- Innovations in Treating Bladder and Kidney Cancer

Areas of the kidney

Cancer occurs when cells in your body grow uncontrollably. These cells can form a tumor or damaged tissue. If this happens in the kidneys, it is known as kidney cancer.

The most common types:

Renal cell carcinoma: develops in the lining of small tubes in the kidney.
Transitional cell carcinoma: occurs in the central part of the kidney.
Wilms tumor: a type of kidney cancer in very young children.

Typically, people are diagnosed around age 64. Risk is higher in men than women. Lifetime risk is about 1 in 63 (1.6%).

With timely treatment, kidney cancer can often be cured. Learn more about symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and common questions below.

Fundamental Details about Kidney Cancer

Tumors can be benign (non-cancerous) or malignant (cancerous). Cysts are common and usually harmless. Solid kidney tumors are often cancerous.

Kidney cancer ranks among the top ten most common cancers in the U.S. In 2017, about 63,990 people were diagnosed; roughly 14,000 died. Early-stage survival (stage I/II) is 75-80%.

Male urinary system

Female urinary system

How Kidneys Function

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, NIH

What Goes On Under Normal Conditions?

Healthy kidneys filter about 150 quarts of blood daily, removing 1-2 quarts of water and waste via urine. Blood flows into the kidney via the renal artery and out via the renal vein.

The adrenal glands atop the kidneys regulate hormones, including adrenaline and erythropoietin, which stimulates red blood cell production.

Kidneys maintain: