Kidney cancer incidence statistics

Kidney cancer is the eighth most common cancer in the UK (2009), accounting for around 3% of all new cases. It is the sixth most common cancer among men in the UK (2009), accounting for more than 3% of all new cases of cancer in males. It is the ninth most common cancer among women in the UK (2009), responsible for more than 2% of all new cases of cancer in females. In 2009, there were 9,286 new cases of kidney cancer in the UK (Table 1.1): 5,706 (61%) in men and 3,580 (39%) in women, giving a male:female ratio of 16:10.1-4

Table 1.1: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66 and C68), Number of New Cases, Crude and European Age-Standardised (AS) Incidence Rates per 100,000 population, UK, 2009

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*95% LCL and 95% UCL are the 95% lower and upper confidence limits around the AS Rate

The crude incidence rate shows that there are around 19 new kidney cancer cases for every 100,000 males in the UK and more than 11 for every 100,000 females (Table 1.1).1-4

A north-south divide in kidney cancer incidence (particularly for females) has existed across the UK since at least the 1990s, when high rates were reported in Scotland, parts of Wales and the north of England.5 The most recent data for 2009 shows that European age-standardised incidence rates (AS rates) are not significantly different between the four UK countries for males, but are significantly higher in Wales and Scotland compared with England for females (Table 1.1). The rates are not significantly different between Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland for either sex.1-4 Within England, a north-south divide is no longer so pronounced, with the most recent data showing many areas across England with high incidence rates.6

section reviewed 05/07/12
section updated 05/07/12

Kidney cancer incidence is strongly related to age. In the UK (2007-2009), an average 62% of kidney cancer cases were diagnosed in people aged 65 years and over (Figure 1.1); but around three-quarters (74%) of cases were in people aged 60+.1-4

Figure 1.1: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66 and C68), Average Number of New Cases per Year and Age-Specific Incidence Rates, UK, 2007-2009

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Around 85 cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed each year in children (0-14 year olds), with around three-quarters of these occurring in children under five. The most common kidney cancer in childhood is Wilms' tumour.7 More information on kidney cancer in children can be found in the childhood cancer section.

Age-specific incidence rates increase sharply from around age 40, peaking in the over-80s. Incidence rates are higher for males than females and this gap widens slightly with increasing age, with the male:female ratio of age-specific incidence rates (to account for the different proportions of males to females in each age group) increasing from 18:10 between the ages of 40 and 44 to around 20:10 at age 60+.8

section reviewed 30/03/12
section updated 30/03/12

The kidney cancer incidence trend is shown in Figure 1.2 for the UK, and in Figure 1.3 for Great Britain.1-4 Kidney cancer incidence rates have steadily increased in Britain since the mid-1970s (Figure 1.3). For men and women, European AS incidence rates have more than doubled between 1975-1977 and 2007-2009, with the relative increase being slightly more for women than men.1-3

Figure 1.2: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66 and C68), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, UK, 1993-2009

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Figure 1.3: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66 and C68), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, Great Britain, 1975-2009

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Kidney cancer incidence rates in Britain have increased for all age groups since the mid-1970s (Figure 1.4). The largest increases have been in people aged 75+, with European AS rates increasing by almost three times between 1975-1977 and 2007-2009.1-3

Figure 1.4: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66 and C68), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, by Age, Great Britain, 1975-2009

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Increases in kidney cancer incidence have been reported in many different countries around the world.8 There has been some debate as to how much this is due to the introduction of new imaging methods, such as ultrasound and computed tomography (CT), which leads to the incidental detection of asymptomatic disease.9-11

Analysis of US data demonstrated a 73% increase in the use of abdominal or pelvic CT scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) between 1986 and 1994.12 Kidney cancer incidence trends by tumour stage in the US population between 1975 and 1995 recorded the greatest increase for localised tumours, but also increases in more advanced and unstaged tumours, suggesting that detection of asymptomatic tumours by imaging does not fully explain the increases seen for kidney cancer overall.12

A similar conclusion that at least part of the increase in incidence is real and not solely contributable to incidentally-detected tumours was reached by a British study of incidence and mortality trends from 1978 to 1997 in the Northern and Yorkshire region of England.13

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section updated 30/03/12

Lifetime risk is an estimation of the risk that a newborn child has of being diagnosed with cancer at some point during their life. It is a summary of risk in the population but genetic and lifestyle factors affect the risk of cancer and so the risk for every individual is different.

In 2010, in the UK, the lifetime risk of developing kidney cancer is 1 in 56 for men and 1 in 90 for women.14

The lifetime risk for kidney cancer has been calculated by the Statistical Information Team using the ‘Adjusted for Multiple Primaries’ (AMP) method; this accounts for the possibility that someone can have more than one diagnosis of kidney cancer over the course of their lifetime.15

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The majority (86% in 2009) of cancers occur in the kidney (excluding the renal pelvis, ICD-10 C64), a further 7% in the renal pelvis (C65), and more than 5% in the ureter (C66). An illustration of the kidney is shown as Figure 1.5. More cases occur in males than females for each sub-site; the male:female ratio is around 16:10 for the kidney and renal pelvis, and 18:10 for the ureter.1-4

Figure 1.5: Diagram of the kidney

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Although cancer registration has a long history in many countries of the world, particularly in the more affluent regions such as the UK, nearly 80% of the world’s populations live in regions that are not covered by such systems.16 Nonetheless, with a view to characterising the global burden of the disease, the International Agency for Research on Cancer routinely uses the available data to estimate worldwide cancer incidence.17

Kidney cancer (excluding other and unspecified urinary organs, ICD-10 C64-C66) is the fourteenth most common cancer worldwide, with an estimated 273,500 new cases diagnosed in 2008 (2% of the total). Kidney cancer incidence rates are lowest in Western Africa and highest in Northern America, with around a 25-fold variation in male World AS incidence rates and around a 15-fold variation in female rates between the regions of the world (Figure 1.6).17

Figure 1.6: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66) World Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, World Regions, 2008 Estimates

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Note: The ICD-10 codes for kidney cancer data worldwide is C64-C66 only.

Within the 27 countries of the European Union, the highest European AS incidence rates for 2008 are estimated to be in the Czech Republic for both sexes (around 34 cases per 100,000 for males and more than 15 cases per 100,000 for females). The lowest rates are in Cyprus for males (more than 6 cases per 100,000) and Malta for females (more than 2 cases per 100,000), (Figure 1.7).17

Kidney cancer incidence rates for the UK are estimated to be the 14th (males) and 16th (females) highest in Europe (EU-27).18

Figure 1.7: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66), European Age-Standardised Incidence Rates, EU-27 Countries, 2008 Estimates

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Note: The ICD-10 codes for kidney cancer data in EU countries is C64-C66 only.

section reviewed 30/03/12
section updated 30/03/12

Two of the major risk factors for kidney cancer are obesity and smoking (see Risk factors), and so it is not surprising that kidney cancer incidence shows an association with deprivation in the UK. The most recent England-wide data for 2000-2004 shows European AS incidence rates are around 11% higher for men and 30% higher for women living in more deprived areas compared with the least deprived.19 Higher incidence rates in the most deprived populations have also been published for Northern Ireland and Wales.20,21 A study in Scotland for kidney cancer excluding the ureter and other and unspecified urinary organs (ICD-10 C64-C65) for 2005-2009 also shows around a 25% significant difference between the most and least deprived populations.22

section reviewed 30/03/12
section updated 30/03/12

Prevalence refers to the number of people who have previously received a diagnosis of cancer and who are still alive at a given time point. Some patients will have been cured of their disease and others will not. The latest estimates for the UK (Table 1.2) show that around 26,500 people were still alive at the end of 2006, up to ten years after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.23 Worldwide, it is estimated that there were 744,000 kidney cancer patients (excluding other and unspecified urinary organs, ICD-10 C64-C66) still alive in 2008, up to five years after their diagnosis.17

Table 1.2: Kidney Cancer (C64-C66 and C68), One, Five and Ten Year Cancer Prevalence, UK, 31st December 2006

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section reviewed 30/03/12
section updated 30/03/12