Renal or kidney cancer is a cancer that affects the kidneys. There are many treatments for renal/kidney cancer. The treatment given depends on the stage of cancer. The following are the various stages of kidney cancer and its treatment. Like all cancers, cancer of the kidney develops in different stages. There are four stages of renal cancer. These stages are decided based on the size of the cancerous tumor and the location:

• Stage I
  At this stage, the tumor is less than 2.8 inches in diameter and is local to the kidney and has not spread. This is an early stage of cancer. 81% of those treated can live for 5 years.
• Stage II
  In this stage, the tumor has grown and is more than 2.8 inches. At this stage, while the cancer cells are growing fast, they’re still in the kidney. During the second stage, the 5-year survival chance is 74%
• Stage III
  In Stage III renal cancer, the tumor would have spread irrespective of the size. It may have spread to the adrenal gland, lymph gland, or the surrounding organs. The chances of surviving this stage for 5 years is 53%.
• Stage IV
  Stage IV is the last stage of cancer. At this stage, not only would the cancer cells have grown but also it would have spread to other parts of the body. Cancer would have spread to other organs. At this stage treatment becomes difficult. The 5-year survival rate is just 8%.

1. Treatment for Stage I and II

The treatments for renal/kidney cancer vary depending on the cancer stage. Before commencing treatment, staging is done to understand at what stage the cancer is in. Cancer in the early stages is easy to treat as it has not spread to other organs.

Surgery is the most common treatment for renal cancer in Stage I and II. There are two options for surgery:

• Partial nephrectomy

This involves removing part of the kidney that has a cancerous tumor. This is the best option during the very early stage of cancer.

• Radical nephrectomy

When cancer has spread across the kidney, as seen in Stage II and above, the entire kidney has to be removed. Since the human body can survive on one kidney, this shouldn’t be a problem. If both kidneys are affected then kidney transplant may be needed where a kidney from a donor is transplanted.

Medication is prescribed after surgery to prevent the relapse of cancer.

2. Treatment for Stage III

Here again, partial or full removal of the kidney is required. Along with this, since cancer has spread, the veins may need to be operated on to remove cancerous cells. If the lymph nodes are affected, they would need to be removed.

3. Treatment for Stage IV

This is the final stage and surgery may not be suitable if cancer has spread across the body. Radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and targeted therapy are used to treat cancer at this stage.

The treatments for renal/kidney cancer depend on the cancer stage. When identified at an early stage, treatment is easy and the survival chances are high.