Cancer Research Lab

Doctors collect statistical information about the different types of cancer and prognosis. Prognosis is the likely outcome of your disease and treatment. In other words, your chances of getting better and how long people in your situation are likely to live.

About the information on this page
Following on this page is quite detailed information about the survival rates of different stages of kidney cancer. We have included it because many people have asked us for this. But not everyone who is diagnosed with a cancer wishes to read this type of information. If you are not sure whether you want to know at the moment or not, then perhaps you might like to skip this page for now. You can always come back to it.

There is information below on

• Cancer statistics in general
• Outcome overall and by stage
• How reliable are these statistics?
• Clinical trials

Please note: There are no national statistics available for different stages of cancer or treatments that people may have received. The statistics we present here are pulled together from a variety of different sources, including the opinions and experience of the experts that check each section of CancerHelp UK. We provide statistics because people ask us for them. But they are only intended as a general guide and cannot be regarded as any more than that.

Cancer statistics in general

There is a section explaining more about the different types of cancer statistics in the CancerHelp UK section on incidence, survival and mortality. Unless you are very familiar with medical statistics, it might help to read this before you read the statistics below.

Remember – ‘5 year survival’ is a term doctors use. It does not mean you will only live 5 years. It relates to the proportion of people in research studies who were still alive 5 years after diagnosis. Doctors follow what happens to people for 5 years after treatment in any research study. This is because there is only a small chance that a cancer will come back more than 5 years after treatment. They do not like to say these people are cured because there is that small chance. So the term ‘5 year survival’ is used instead.

Outcome overall and by stage

As with many other types of cancer, the outcome of kidney cancer depends on how advanced it is when it is diagnosed. In other words, the stage of your cancer. Of all those diagnosed in England and Wales, about 44 out of every 100 people with kidney cancer (44%) live for at least five years after they are diagnosed. About 40 out of every 100 live for at least 10 years.

The British Association of Urological Surgeons collect information on kidney cancer diagnosis in the UK. According to their figures, of all those diagnosed with kidney cancer in the UK in 2005, that could be staged

• Just over a third (38%) had stage 1
• Just under 1 in 5 (18%) had stage 2
• Just over 1 in 4 (26%) had stage 3
• Just under 1 in 5 (19%) had stage 4

Most of those with stage 4 had spread to another part of the body at the time of diagnosis (stage 4b). Around a quarter of them did not have spread to another body organ, but their cancer had grown into the tissues surrounding the kidney (stage 4a). The BAUS data for the past few years shows a small but steady trend towards finding kidney tumours at an earlier stage. This is a good thing, because they are then easier to treat.

Stage 1

If you are diagnosed with stage one kidney cancer then your cancer is completely inside the kidney. This means it hasn’t had a chance to spread. Generally, your prognosis is very good, provided you are well enough for treatment.

With a less aggressive cancer (grade 1 or 2 kidney cancer) about 94 out of every 100 people (94%) diagnosed live for at least 5 years after diagnosis.

Even with a more aggressive type of tumour (grade 3 or 4 kidney cancer) the 5 year survival figure is likely to be more than 70 out of every 100 diagnosed (70%). These figures are affected by how well you are overall. People who are fit and well, with no other medical conditions that may affect illness or treatment, are likely to do better than this.

Stage 2

With stage 2 cancers, the statistics show that between 65 and 75 out of every 100 people (65-75%) diagnosed live for at least 5 years after diagnosis. Those at the higher end of the range are likely to have lower grade cancers and to be fit and well.

Stage 3

Stage 3 means that cancer cells have spread to a lymph node near to the kidney. Again, prognosis is affected by grade and how well you are. Generally, between 40 and 70 out of every 100 people (40-70%) diagnosed with a stage 3 kidney cancer will live for at least 5 years after diagnosis. Those at the higher end of this scale are likely to have lower grade cancers and to be fit and well.

Stage 4

About 1 in 4 people (25%) with kidney cancer have stage 4 cancer when they are diagnosed. This either means the cancer has grown into the tissues around the kidney or it has spread to another part of the body. Overall, with a stage 4 kidney cancer, about 10 out of every 100 people (10%) diagnosed live for at least 5 years. But this is affected very much by the grade of the cancer. With a low grade cancer and local spread, some studies show 5 year survival statistics as high as 40 out of every 100 people (40%).

Other factors affecting prognosis

There are 2 other factors that can affect your prognosis, apart from the stage of your cancer

• The grade
• How well you are overall

The grade is how the cancer cells look under the microscope. The system of grading kidney cancer cells is called the Fuhrman system, after the man who devised it. There are 4 groups (called grades 1 – 4), according to the size and appearance of the nucleus (control centre) of the cancer cells.

Doctors also have a way of grading how well you are. They call this your ‘performance status’. A score of 0 means you are completely able to look after yourself. A score of 1 means you can do most things for yourself, but need some help. The scores continue to go up, depending on how much help you need.

Performance status score is important in kidney cancer because the cancer can cause general symptoms such as

• Fever
• Weight loss
• Extreme tiredness

Kidney cancer specialists know that people who do NOT have these symptoms have a better outlook (prognosis) than people who do have these symptoms. Performance status is used to predict prognosis because it will be affected by these symptoms. If you are weak from losing weight and having fevers and very tired, you will need more day to day help, so your performance score will be at least 1. You may see performance status written ‘PS’.

How reliable are these statistics?

No statistics can tell you what will happen to you. Your cancer is unique. The same type of cancer can behave differently in different people.

The statistics are not detailed enough to tell you about the treatment people may have had. And how that treatment may have affected their prognosis. Some treatments may help people to live longer as well as relieving symptoms. There are many individual factors that will determine your treatment and prognosis. If you are fit enough to have treatment, you are likely to do better than average, particularly if your cancer is more advanced.

Clinical trials

People treated at centres where clinical trials are taking place tend to do better. This is almost certainly because that is where the most expertise is concentrated – research is more likely to take place in specialist centres. For those in the trials, it may be partly to do with having a closer eye kept on them by their doctors than they might if not in a trial – more scans and blood tests for example. But it might also be something to do with morale. You may feel more positive if you are taking part in a trial because it is more obvious to you that something is being done to help you. There is more about understanding clinical trials in CancerHelp UK. To search our clinical trials database for trials that are recruiting for kidney cancer, click on the blue ‘clinical trials button’ to the left of your screen and pick ‘kidney’ from the drop down menu of cancer types.

Source: Cancer Research UK