Kidney Cancer Survival Rates

Kidney cancer survival rates express the percentage of people who survive the disease for a specific period of time after their diagnosis. In most cases, statistics refer to five-year survival rates. The survival rates discussed in this article are based on the relative survival rate, which measures the survival of kidney cancer patients in comparison to the general population. The overall five-year relative kidney cancer survival rate for 1995-2001 was 64.6 percent.

Treatment for Kidney Cancer

Kidney Cancer Survival Rates: An Introduction

The kidney cancer survival rate indicates the percentage of people with a certain type and stage of kidney cancer who survive the disease for a specific period of time after their diagnosis.

For the purposes of this eMedTV article, the term "kidney cancer" refers to renal cell carcinoma (also known as renal cell cancer), the most common of the kidney cancer types.

[Click Wilms' Tumor or Transitional Cell Carcinoma (of the Ureter and Renal Pelvis) for information about other types of kidney cancer.]

In most cases, statistics refer to the five-year kidney cancer survival rate. The five-year survival rate is the percentage of people who are alive five years after a kidney cancer diagnosis, whether they have few or no signs or symptoms of kidney cancer, are free of disease, or are receiving treatment for kidney cancer. Kidney cancer survival rates are based on large groups of people; they cannot be used to predict what will happen to a particular patient. No two patients are exactly alike, and kidney cancer treatment and responses to treatment vary greatly.

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