Survival for kidney cancer
Survival depends on many factors. No one can tell you exactly how long you will live.
Below are general statistics based on large groups of people. Remember, they can’t tell you what will happen in your individual case.
About these statistics
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.
Survival by stage
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.
Stage 1
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.
Stage 2
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.
Stage 3
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.
Stage 4
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.
Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021
NHS England
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2016 and 2020.
These statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
Survival for all stages of kidney cancer
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
1 and 5 year survival statistics
Cancer survival in England, cancers diagnosed 2016 to 2020, followed up to 2021
NHS England
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2016 and 2020.
10 year survival statistics
Cancer survival in England: adult, stage at diagnosis and childhood - patients followed up to 2018
Office for National Statistics
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2013 and 2017.
1, 5 and 10 year statistics are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
Conditional survival for kidney cancer
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
Conditional survival estimates how likely it is that you will survive your cancer for a further 4 years or more after surviving 1 year.
Conditional survival
1 and 5 year conditional survival for patients diagnosed in England, 2015-2019
Cancer Research UK - National Disease Registration Service partnership
These figures are for people diagnosed in England between 2015 and 2019. They are for net survival. Net survival estimates the number of people who survive their cancer rather than calculating the number of people diagnosed with cancer who are still alive. In other words, it is the survival of cancer patients after taking into account that some people would have died from other causes if they had not had cancer.
These conditional survival statistics don’t take into account the age of the people with kidney cancer. Conditional survival statistics that do take into account the age (age-standardised statistics) are not available.
Without age standardisation, the survival differences between patient groups can be influenced by the age of the people, in addition to their disease progression or treatment.
We should not use these non age-standardised figures to compare survival with other groups, such as different cancer types, stages, or populations from other countries.
What affects 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.
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.
More statistics
For more in-depth information about survival and kidney cancer, go to our Cancer Statistics section.
