Kidney Cancer

According to the National Cancer Institute, renal cell carcinoma (RCC) forms in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney that filter the blood and remove waste. Renal pelvis carcinoma, another type of kidney cancer, forms in the kidney's center where urine collects. RCC accounts for 90% to 95% of malignant neoplasms arising from the kidney.1 Other types of kidney cancer include Wilms' tumor, which typically develops in children five years of age or younger, and renal sarcoma. About 85% of kidney cancers are adenocarcinomas; most other kidney cancers are transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis.2,3

The American Cancer Society has estimated that 63,920 new cases of renal cell (kidney and renal pelvis) cancer would occur in the United States in 2014, causing 13,860 deaths.4 Based on rates from 2007 to 2009, 1 in 62 people will receive a diagnosis of cancer of the kidney and renal pelvis during their lifetime. On January 1, 2009, about 320,182 men and women in the United States had...