In renal cell carcinoma – colloquially called kidney cancer – (synonyms: chromophobic renal cell carcinoma; hypernephroid renal tumor; hypernephroid renal carcinoma; hypernephroma; conventional renal cell carcinoma; medullary renal cell carcinoma; renal embryoma; renal carcinoma; renal malignancy; renal parenchymal carcinoma; renal goiter; oncocytoma; papillary renal cell carcinoma; renal malignant neoplasm; renal adenocarcinoma; collecting tubular carcinoma; hypernephroid renal carcinoma; English. renal cell carcinoma, RCC; ICD-10-GM C64: Malignant neoplasm of the kidney, excluding renal pelvis) is the most common malignant neoplasm of the kidney.
Malignant tumors of the kidneys are rare. About three percent of all occurring carcinomas in humans are malignant renal tumors. Approximately 90% of these are renal cell carcinomas, occurring unilaterally (on one side) in 97% of cases and bilaterally (on both sides) in 3%.
Renal cell carcinoma occurs bilaterally, that is, on both kidneys simultaneously, in 1-3% of cases. In addition, it usually occurs sporadically.
Sex ratio: males to females is 2: 1.
Peak incidence: Renal cell carcinoma is a disease of the elderly. The median age of onset is approximately 68 years in men and 71 years in women.
The incidence (frequency of new cases) is about 22.9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year for men and about 12.7 cases per 100,000 inhabitants per year for women (in Germany).
Course and prognosis: In most cases, a renal tumor is discovered by chance during an application of imaging techniques (sonography (ultrasound), computed tomography [CT], and magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]). Prognosis depends mainly on lymph node status rather than tumor category or tumor size. The recurrence rate after successful therapy is 5%.
The 5-year survival rate is between 70 and 97% in stage I (the tumor is still confined to the kidney or very small), and between 50 and 60% in stage II. In stage III, it is only between 10 and 50 %. If lymph node metastases (daughter tumors in a lymph node) are detected, the 5-year survival rate is 20 %. If distant metastases (metastases in other organs) are detectable, only 14% live longer than 5 years.
