Experts from the American Cancer Society estimate 73,820 kidney cancer, or renal cancer, cases diagnosed in americans just this year, with approximately 14,770 deaths due to this disease. Kidney cancer develops as a malignant tumour within the cells of the kidney, which may spread to other parts of the body. Kidney cancer affects the healthy function of the kidneys, which are responsible for filtering water and waste material (urine) from the blood.

Thankfully, when kidney cancer is detected early using kidney cancer screening methods, treatment is most effective. Below you will find out more information on the common treatments for various stages of renal cancer:

1. Renal surgery
Surgery is of the most common treatment options for kidney cancer. During surgery, the doctor may decide to remove part or even all of the kidney that contains the malignant cells. Some of the other surgical procedures include:

• Partial nephrectomy, which removes just the cancer in the kidney and surrounding tissues.
• Simple nephrectomy removes only the entire kidney.
• Radical nephrectomy, which removes the entire kidney and the surrounding areas.

2. Radiation
Radiation therapy is another common treatment for kidney cancer. It uses high powered x-rays in order to kill the cancer cells, and to stop the cancer cells from growing and spreading throughout your body. Usually, doctors will use two different types of radiation—external radiation therapy and internal radiation therapy. The external therapy employs an external device and aims it directly at cancerous cells, while internal radiation uses needles, wires and catheters to specifically target cancer.

3. Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy uses kidney cancer medications and drugs to stop the cancer from growing and also spreading. There are many different forms of chemotherapy that can be used (i.e., oral pills, topical creams, or injections).

4. Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy is a specific treatment that administers medication (i.e., CTL4-A or PD-1 Inhibitors) to specifically enhance the body’s immune system, which in turn triggers an attack on cancerous cells.

5. Targeted therapies
With this specific treatment, drugs and or medication are used to identify cancer cells to destroy without negatively affecting healthy cells in the body.