Renal cell carcinoma (aka renal adenocarcinoma, hypernephroma) is the most common malignancy of the kidney and it counts for about 3% of all adult cancers and for about 85% of kidney tumors.  The number of new cases in the United States in 2001 is projected to be about 30,800 with an estimated 12,100 deaths.  The earlier detection of these cancers which are generally incurable accept by surgery should translate into slight improvements in survival due to the application of surgery at an earlier potentially curable stage.

Symptoms from renal cell carcinoma can consist of pain, blood in urine, a flank mass or evidence of spread which includes weight loss, fever, and night sweats.  Many patients do not have any symptoms of the disease and the problem is found accidentally when evaluating other medical problems.  Kidney cancer is usually diagnosed with modern imaging techniques such as a CAT scan.  The typical kidney cancer is usually greater than four centimeters in diameter. 

The mainstay of treatment for primary renal cell cancer is surgical excision.  It is the only current known curative therapy.  Surgical techniques for radical removal of the kidney are well established.  Renal cell cancers, even when very large seldom invade the organs next to them.  Rather they have a tendency to compress and displace those organs.  However, occasional direct invasion can occur. These patients usually present with pain. The outlook for nonlocalized disease is dismal.

There is hope that patients can be identified by testing that relates to the gene structure.  . Eventually, a process that uses normal genes to overcome or reverse the cancer-causing process may be developed.  Although this technology is very early, it offers new hope for treatment of this disease that if not detected early is very likely uncurable.