Renal Cell Carcinoma
Kidney cancer is the 15th most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.[1] In up to 30% of patients, the disease has already spread by the time of diagnosis.[2]
Understanding the Impact of Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma
Kidney cancer is the 15th most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, with more than 403,000 new cases diagnosed in 2018. In the same year, more than 175,000 people died of this disease.[1] By 2040, it is estimated that nearly 653,000 men and women will be diagnosed worldwide, and nearly 311,000 deaths will be attributed to kidney cancer.[3]
Globally, about half of all cases are diagnosed before the age of 65 years, and it is almost twice as common in men compared with women.[3] While the exact causes of kidney cancer are not clear, several risk factors are linked to the disease, including smoking, obesity and high blood pressure.[2]
There are several types of kidney cancer, but about 9 in 10 patients are diagnosed with a form known as renal cell carcinoma (RCC).[4] RCC occurs when cancer cells form in the lining of very small tubes in the kidney known as tubules, which help filter and clean the blood.
About 30% of patients diagnosed with RCC have disease that is already “metastatic,” meaning it started in the kidney but has spread to other organs. This is often also referred to as advanced RCC. Patients whose disease is considered localized” at diagnosis may also ultimately experience this spreading of the tumor.
As with other cancers, treatment for RCC depends on the stage of the disease and the patient’s age and general health.[5] Options currently include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, immunotherapy or targeted therapy.[5]
References:
- International
Agency for Research on Cancer: World Population Fact Sheet Cancer. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/today/data/factsheets/populations/900-world-fact-sheets.pdf. Accessed March 2019. - Gupta, K., Miller, J. D. & Li, J. Z. et al. Epidemiologic and socioeconomic burden of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC): a literature review. Cancer Treat Rev 34, 193–205 (2008).
- Ferlay J, Ervik M, Lam F, Colombet M, Mery L, Piñeros M, Znaor A, Soerjomataram I, Bray F (2018). Global Cancer Observatory: Cancer Tomorrow. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer. Available from: https://gco.iarc.fr/tomorrow, accessed May 2019.
- Ljungberg, B., Campbell, S. C. & Cho, H. Y. et al. The epidemiology of renal cell carcinoma. Eur Urol 60, 615–621 (2011).
- National Institutes of Health. National Cancer Institute. Renal cell cancer treatment (PDQ®)–patient version.