The American Cancer Society estimates that there will be about 57,760 new cases of kidney cancer (35,430 in men and 22,330 in women) in the United States in 2009, and about 12,980 people (8,160 men and 4,820 women) will die from this disease. These statistics include both renal cell carcinomas and transitional cell carcinomas of the renal pelvis.

Most people with this cancer are older. The average age of most people when they are diagnosed is 65. Kidney cancer is very uncommon in people younger than age 45, and its incidence is highest in people between the ages of 55 and 84.

Kidney cancer is among the 10 most common cancers in both men and women. Overall, the lifetime risk for developing kidney cancer is about 1 in 75 (1.34%). This risk is higher in men than in women. A number of other factors (described in the section, "What are the risk factors for kidney cancer?") may also affect a person's risk.

For reasons that are not totally clear, the rate of people developing kidney cancer has been rising slowly since the 1970s. At least part of this is probably due to the development of newer imaging tests such as CT scans, which have picked up some cancers that may never have been found otherwise. The death rates for these cancers have remained fairly stable since the mid 1980s.

Survival rates for people diagnosed with kidney cancer are discussed in the section, "How is kidney cancer staged?"

Last Medical Review: 02/18/2009
Last Revised: 05/14/2009