Treating Kidney Cancer

To treat kidney cancer, your health care provider will consider the type of cancer, how advanced it is (the stage), how aggressive it is, your overall health, side effects, risks and your preferences. With that information, you can work together to come up with a personalized treatment plan.

Kidney cancer treatment options

Your care team may include a radiologist, urologist, nephrologist, pathologist and medical oncologist. They may recommend one or more of these treatment options:

Active surveillance

For tumors less than three centimeters (about 1.18 inches), your provider may recommend checking it periodically with imaging (CT scans, ultrasounds or MRI) to see if it is growing and needs treatment.

Surgery

Surgery is often the first active treatment option, especially for early cancer. Surgical options may include:

• Radical nephrectomy: Completely removing the affected kidney and a small area of tissue around it. A surgeon may remove the kidney through an incision in your side or abdomen (open nephrectomy) or through small incisions with specialized tools (laparoscopic nephrectomy). Your remaining kidney helps take over function for the kidney that was removed.
• Partial nephrectomy: Removing the tumor and part of the affected kidney and a small area of healthy tissue around it. This procedure is also called kidney-sparing surgery. Like radical nephrectomy, it can be performed with open or laparoscopic techniques. It’s a common treatment for small kidney cancers.
• Lymph node dissection: Removing nearby lymph nodes to keep cancer from spreading.

Targeted therapy

Targeted therapy uses medications to attack cancerous cells while minimizing damage to healthy cells. These therapies may target specific ways that cancer grows. 

Immunotherapy

Immunotherapy boosts your body’s immune system to help it spot and attack cancer cells. Immunotherapy has shown promising results in treating advanced kidney cancer and to prevent kidney cancer from returning after surgery. Your provider may recommend using it alone or with other treatments.

Radiation therapy

Radiation therapy uses high-energy beams to target and destroy cancer cells. Your provider may recommend it to shrink tumors before surgery, relieve symptoms or treat cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy isn’t usually a treatment for kidney cancer, but your provider may recommend it in certain cases, especially if other treatments aren’t working.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA)

RFA is a minimally invasive procedure that can treat small kidney cancers in people who might not be able to have surgery. With it, a provider guides a thin electrode into the tumor to generate heat and destroy cancer cells. It’s generally effective and recovery is usually fast. 

Cryoablation

Cryoablation is a minimally invasive procedure that’s similar to RFA but uses cold instead of heat to destroy cancer cells.

Renal artery embolization

This procedure uses an injected substance (thin metal coils or a liquid) to block the blood flow to some or all of your kidney. It may be an option if you can’t have surgery.

Treatment side effects

Kidney cancer treatments may cause these side effects: 

• Fatigue
• Nausea and vomiting
• Loss of appetite
• Hair loss
• Skin changes
• Digestive problems
• Bleeding
• Infection

Talk to your provider about your concerns and any side effects you may have. They can help you manage them and recommend strategies or medications that can help.

Coping with kidney cancer

Living with kidney cancer can be challenging for people with the disease and their caregivers. These actions and resources may help:

• Support groups: In-person or online support groups can provide emotional support, practical advice and a sense of community.
• Counseling: Individual or family counseling can help you cope with the emotional impact of kidney cancer and develop coping strategies.
• Education: Check the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society and the Kidney Cancer Association or ask your care team for other reliable sources of information about kidney cancer, treatment options and coping.
• Integrative medicine: Techniques like massage, meditation, relaxation exercises, music or art therapy may help you cope.

At Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center our multi-disciplinary care team is here for you at every step of your cancer journey.