What are the different types of kidney cancer?
By far the most common type of kidney cancer is renal cell carcinoma, accounting for about 85 percent of cases. There are five main forms of renal cell cancers, each differentiated by the way the cancerous cells appear under a microscope. They include: clear cell (about 70–80 percent of renal cell cancers), papillary (about 10–15 percent of renal cell cancers), chromophobe (about 5 percent), collecting duct (very rare), and “unclassified,” which means the appearance of the cancer cells doesn’t fit into any of the other four main categories (about 5 percent). The type of renal cell carcinoma is important when planning a treatment strategy. Less common forms of kidney tumors include: transitional cell carcinoma,Wilms’ tumor, renal sarcoma, renal cell adenoma, renal oncocytoma, and angiomyolipoma. Of these types of kidney tumors, transitional cell carcinomas are the most common, accounting for 5–10 percent of cases. This type of cancer begins in the renal pelvis, where the kidney connects
