Understanding Kidney Cancer

How Long Will I Live With Kidney Cancer?

Last updated and reviewed on June 13, 2026.

One of the first things many people want to know after a kidney cancer diagnosis is: "How long do I have?" This is a completely understandable question, and it is important to be honest about what the numbers can and cannot tell you. No doctor can predict exactly what will happen for any one person. What doctors can share are statistics based on large groups of patients, and those numbers can help guide your understanding and conversations with your care team.

How Common Is Kidney Cancer?

Kidney cancer is one of the most common cancers in the United States. According to the American Cancer Society's most recent estimates, about 81,800 new cases of kidney cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2024, and about 14,890 people are expected to die from the disease that year. Kidney cancer makes up about 4% of all new cancer diagnoses in adults.

Kidney cancer is about twice as common in men as in women. It is most often diagnosed in people between the ages of 65 and 74. Rates of kidney cancer have been slowly rising for several decades, likely due to increasing rates of obesity and high blood pressure, both known risk factors, as well as the wider use of imaging tests that are finding more small tumors that might not have been detected in the past.

What Is the Survival Rate for Kidney Cancer?

Doctors often discuss cancer survival in terms of a 5-year relative survival rate. This is the percentage of people with a certain cancer who are still alive 5 years after their diagnosis, compared to people of the same age and sex who do not have cancer. It is not a prediction for any individual; it is a statistical snapshot based on patients diagnosed in the past.

The survival rates below are based on data from the SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) database maintained by the National Cancer Institute. They are organized by SEER stage:

These numbers tell an encouraging story for localized kidney cancer. Most people with kidney cancer confined to the kidney do very well. The outlook for advanced or metastatic kidney cancer is more challenging, though treatment has improved significantly in recent years.

Important: These statistics are based on patients diagnosed several years ago and do not reflect the most recent treatment advances. New immunotherapy and targeted therapy combinations have improved survival for advanced kidney cancer. Today's outcomes may be better than these statistics suggest.

What Factors Affect Prognosis?

Survival statistics are averages across large groups, and individual outcomes vary enormously depending on several factors:

Stage at diagnosis is the single most important factor. Kidney cancers found when they are still confined to the kidney (localized) have excellent survival rates. Tumors found after they have spread to distant organs have a much lower survival rate, though some patients with metastatic kidney cancer still live for many years with treatment.

Tumor size matters. Smaller tumors are usually easier to remove completely and are less likely to have already spread.

Histological subtype affects outcomes. Clear cell RCC tends to be more aggressive than chromophobe RCC, for example. Certain rare subtypes carry a particularly poor prognosis.

Tumor grade describes how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope. Higher grade tumors (grades 3 and 4) tend to grow faster and spread more readily.

How well you respond to treatment plays a large role, including whether surgery can completely remove the tumor, and whether systemic therapies (like immunotherapy or targeted therapy) shrink or control the cancer.

Your overall health affects your ability to tolerate treatment and recover from surgery.

Access to specialized care at a kidney cancer center with experienced oncologists can also affect outcomes.

Is Kidney Cancer Curable?

Yes, kidney cancer can be cured, especially when found early. For localized kidney cancer (Stage I and II), surgery to remove the tumor or just the part of the kidney containing the tumor can be curative. Many patients treated surgically for early-stage kidney cancer go on to live full, normal lives with no recurrence.

Even some Stage III kidney cancers (which have grown into nearby tissues or spread to nearby lymph nodes) are curable with surgery, sometimes combined with additional therapies.

For Stage IV (metastatic) kidney cancer, the goal of treatment shifts from cure to control, keeping the cancer from growing and maintaining quality of life for as long as possible. However, a small number of carefully selected patients with limited metastatic disease have been successfully treated with a combination of surgery (to remove the primary tumor and all visible metastases) and systemic therapy and have achieved long-term remissions or possible cure. This is called complete resection of metastatic disease and is considered in selected patients.

Thanks to major advances in immunotherapy and targeted therapy over the past 15 years, people with metastatic kidney cancer are living longer than ever before. Drugs like sunitinib, pazopanib, nivolumab, ipilimumab, pembrolizumab, and axitinib, along with combination regimens, have transformed the treatment of advanced kidney cancer. Ongoing clinical trials continue to push the boundaries of what is possible.

Remember: Statistics describe groups, not individuals. Many patients beat the odds. Your doctor can help you understand what your specific diagnosis means for your own situation.

Sources:

1. American Cancer Society. Kidney Cancer Survival Rates. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/types/kidney-cancer/detection-diagnosis-staging/survival-rates.html
2. National Cancer Institute SEER Database. Cancer Stat Facts: Kidney and Renal Pelvis. https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/kidrp.html
3. Siegel RL, Miller KD, Jemal A. Cancer Statistics, 2024. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 2024;74(1):12–49.
4. Motzer RJ, et al. Nivolumab plus Ipilimumab versus Sunitinib in Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma. New England Journal of Medicine. 2018;378:1277–1290.
5. Rini BI, et al. Pembrolizumab plus Axitinib versus Sunitinib for Advanced Renal-Cell Carcinoma. New England Journal of Medicine. 2019;380:1116–1127.