Kidney cancer: Treatment options

Kidney cancer

Treatment options

Being diagnosed with kidney cancer can feel overwhelming. This page explains your treatment options and what happens next, helping you understand the journey ahead. On this page you can read about:

Your treatment pathway

Your treatment will depend on your specific situation. Some people will have surgery alone to remove their kidney, others will have surgery followed by drug treatment, while others will receive drug treatments without prior surgery. Your medical team will discuss with you your best options. Treatment decisions are made based on:

The size and location of your cancer
Whether it has spread to other parts of your body
Your general health/other health conditions

Patients who require drug treatment will be referred to Royal Surrey Cancer Centre for assessment and consideration for systemic cancer treatment.

When your cancer is only in the kidney

Surgery

If your cancer hasn’t spread beyond the kidneys, surgery may completely cure your cancer. The aim of surgery is to remove the cancer in its entirety by taking out either:

part of your kidney (partial nephrectomy) – when possible, to preserve function.
the whole of your kidney (total nephrectomy) – when necessary to remove all cancer.

In the majority of cases the procedure will be performed as keyhole surgery. However, sometimes it is necessary for it to be done as an open procedure.

If you are a Royal Surrey patient and surgery is recommended for you, it will be performed at Frimley Park Hospital, which is the centre of excellence within our network. You may be referred back to Royal Surrey Cancer Centre for your follow-up treatment and care.

After surgery – additional treatment (adjuvant treatment)

After surgery, you will have regular check-ups to monitor your recovery and watch for any signs of cancer returning. If there is an intermediate or high risk of your cancer returning, you may be offered immunotherapy for up to one year. This treatment:

must be started within 12 weeks of your operation.
is given every six weeks for nine cycles.
is given through a drip into your vein (intravenous infusion) over 30 minutes.

Find out more about receiving immunotherapy treatment at Royal Surrey Cancer Centre.

This video explains a treatment option called adjuvant therapy that may be offered after your kidney cancer surgery to help prevent the cancer from coming back. A specialist nurse walks you through what to expect with pembrolizumab immunotherapy - including how it's given, what side effects you might experience, and how you'll be monitored and supported throughout your treatment.

If your cancer has spread

If your cancer has spread from your kidney to other parts of your body, drug treatments can help control the cancer and improve your quality of live.

Why not surgery? If the cancer has spread beyond the kidney to other organs, surgery to remove the kidney, is not always the best option as there is cancer elsewhere. In this case, drug treatments are offered as they provide an effective option to control the cancer.

You will meet with an oncologist (specialist cancer doctor) at Royal Surrey Cancer Centre to discuss the best treatment for you. You may be offered:

Immunotherapy – given through a drip into your vein (intravenous infusion).
TKI drugs – tablets taken orally.
Combination of Immunotherapy and TKI.

Treatment is given on an ongoing basis, so as long as it is working for you, it will be continued. You will receive a CT scans every three months to monitor the cancer.

Why not traditional chemotherapy? Standard chemotherapy doesn’t work effectively for kidney cancer, which is why we use these specialised treatments instead.