Kidney Cancer

Our urologic surgeons were instrumental in developing many of the minimally invasive techniques now in use for kidney surgery.

What Are Symptoms of Kidney Cancer?

Kidney cancer usually doesn’t cause symptoms at first. It's often discovered by imaging tests done for other reasons.
After it spreads, kidney cancer may cause one or more of these symptoms:

• Blood in the urine.
• A lump felt in the lower back or belly.
• Pain in the side or the back.

What Are Treatments for Kidney Cancer?

Surgery is the only way to cure kidney cancer. With improved imaging allowing earlier detection, the number of renal tumors diagnosed is rising. Recent advances in surgical techniques frequently allow surgeons to remove only the tumor from the kidney -- partial nephrectomy or nephron-sparing surgery (NSS). Nephron-sparing surgery allows preservation of the majority of the affected kidney without compromising cancer cure rates. Leaving patients with more kidney function dramatically improves their overall health and well-being, and reduces the incidence of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Pioneering Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques

Our surgeons were among the first in the nation to perform a laparoscopic nephrectomy – removal of the kidney -- in patients with kidney cancer. They also pioneered the hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy (HALN), a standard in minimally invasive nephrectomy, and have taught the technique to well over 1,000 surgeons from the U.S. and overseas. The percentage of kidney cancer surgeries performed laparoscopically, rather than open, has grown dramatically since the HALN technique was developed. Now more than 90 percent of patients with kidney tumors are treated using a minimally invasive surgical approach.

Sixty percent of all of our kidney cancer patients now undergo nephron-sparing surgery called partial nephrectomy. Our surgeons are among the world's most experienced in performing robotic partial nephrectomies, which allow even more complex and larger tumors to be removed using a minimally invasive approach.

​What Are Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer?

Your risk of kidney cancer is higher if:

• You smoke.
• Your job exposes you to asbestos, gasoline or cadmium.
• You have used too much pain medication over a long period of time.• You have Hippel-Lindau disease.

How is Kidney Cancer Diagnosed?

If your symptoms make your doctor think that you may have kidney cancer, he or she will order imaging tests. The pictures from these tests usually show whether there is cancer in your kidney and how far it may have spread.

More information on Kidney Cancer