How is kidney cancer treated?
The treatment of kidney cancer depends on the stage of the cancer. In other words, the size of the tumour and whether there are cancer cells in the surrounding lymph nodes or blood vessels. It also depends on whether the cancer is in one kidney or in both. Surgery is the main treatment for early stage kidney cancer. Stage 1 and 2 kidney cancer may be curable with surgery. Even some stage 3 cancers can be cured if all the cancer is removed. Either the whole kidney or part of the kidney can be removed. If the tumour is small (less than 4 cm across, for example), or if you have tumours in both kidneys, then you are likely to have only a part, or parts, of the kidneys removed. Surgeons call the operation to remove part of the kidney ‘partial nephrectomy’ or ‘nephron sparing surgery’. If you cannot have surgery for any reason (heart or lung problems for example) you can still have treatment. Radiotherapy might be used to shrink the cancer and control symptoms. Or there is a treatment called
