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Prognosis for Renal Cell Carcinoma

Renal cell carcinoma is an aggressive tumor affecting kidneys. Like most cancers, early diagnosis of the disease is key to improving the patient's prognosis.

  1. Cases Annually

    • According to the pharmaceutical company Merck there are close to 51,000 cases of renal cell carcinoma in the United States annually that result in 8,000 deaths.

    Stages

    • Cancer.gov reports that prognosis depends on the stage of the cancer and the age and health of the patient. Even after treatment the cancer may return years later in the kidney or elsewhere in the body.

    Smaller limited tumors

    • Ninety-five percent of patients who have tumors that are seven centimeters or less in size that are limited to the kidney have survival rates of at least five years.

    Warning

    • The prognosis for patients with RCC that has metastasized or returned after treatment is poor and future treatments are not effective.

    Tumor Removal

    • The Wilms and Other Renal Tumors website tells site visitors that the most important factor for longer survival is the removal of all possible tumors. This means that a stage III patient with the entire tumor completely removed will fare better than a patient in stage III where remnants of the tumor remain.

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