Kidney cancer
The terms 1 year survival and 5 year survival don't mean that you will only live for 1 or 5 years.
The NHS, other health organisations, and researchers collect information. They record what happens to people with cancer in the years after their diagnosis. 5 years is a common time point to measure survival. But some people live much longer than this.
5 year survival is the number of people who have not died from their cancer within 5 years after diagnosis.
There are no UK-wide statistics available for kidney cancer survival by stage.
Survival statistics are available for each stage of kidney cancer in England. These figures are for people diagnosed between 2016 and 2020.
Almost 90 out of 100 people (almost 90%) with stage 1 kidney cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Around 75 out of 100 people (around 75%) with stage 2 kidney cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Around 75 out of 100 people (around 75%) with stage 3 kidney cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
Around 15 out of 100 people (around 15%) with stage 4 kidney cancer will survive their cancer for 5 years or more after they’re diagnosed.
You can view survival figures for Wales and Northern Ireland on our early diagnosis pages. Survival statistics for Scotland are not available.
Go to our early diagnosis data hub to view survival statistics for Wales and Northern Ireland
Generally for people with kidney cancer in England:
around 80 out of 100 people (around 80%) survive their cancer for 1 year or more
more than 65 out of 100 people (more than 65%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more
more than 50 out of 100 people (more than 50%) survive their cancer for 10 years or more
For some cancer types, prognosis improves as time passes. For example, your chances of surviving your cancer for a total of 5 years or more after diagnosis are higher if you have already survived a year since diagnosis. Doctors call this conditional survival. It gives an updated picture of your prognosis. It takes into account how long you have already survived since diagnosis.
For people in England who survive their kidney cancer for 1 year or more after diagnosis:
more than 80 out of 100 people (more than 80%) survive their cancer for 5 years or more
Read more about conditional survival
Your outlook depends on the stage of the kidney cancer when it was diagnosed. This means how big it is and whether it has spread.
The type of cancer and the grade of the cancer cells can also affect your survival. Grade means how abnormal the cells look under a microscope.
Read about the types and grades of kidney cancer
Other factors that affect your outlook include your age and how well you are overall. Doctors have a way of measuring your general health. They call it your performance status. They look at:
how active you are
if you can look after yourself
if you can carry out housework or physical work
It is important your doctor knows your performance status if you have kidney cancer. This is because the cancer can cause general symptoms like a high temperature (fever), weight loss and extreme tiredness. These can affect your general health. People who do not have these symptoms have a better outlook than people who do have these symptoms.
Find out more about performance status
For more in-depth information about survival and kidney cancer, go to our Cancer Statistics section.
Last reviewed: 22 Jan 2024
Next review due: 22 Jan 2027
The kidneys are bean shaped organs near the middle of your back. They filter waste products out of your blood as urine. Kidney cancer develops when abnormal cells in either of the kidneys start to divide and grow in an uncontrolled way.
Tests tell your doctor more about the kidney cancer. They tell them the sort of kidney cell it started in (type). And how much the cells look like normal cells (grade). They also show how big the cancer is and if it has spread (stage).
Treatments for kidney cancer include surgery, cryotherapy, radiofrequency ablation and radiotherapy. You might have different treatment for advanced kidney cancer.
Advanced kidney cancer means a cancer that started in the kidney has spread to another part of the body. It is also called metastatic kidney cancer. Treatment depends on how many parts of the body the cancer has spread to and how quickly it has spread.
Coping with kidney cancer is difficult. There are specialists who can help you and your family and friends cope. There are also things you can do.
Kidney cancer is cancer that starts in the kidneys. The kidneys filter waste products out of your blood as urine. Kidney cancer develops when abnormal cells in either of the kidneys start to divide and grow in an uncontrolled way.
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