Statistics About Kidney Cancer

Some people use statistics to try to figure out their chance of getting cancer or of being cured. Statistics show what happens to large groups of people. Because no 2 people are alike, you cannot use them to predict what will happen to you.

Here are some 2007 statistics about kidney cancer from the American Cancer Society. They include both adults and children and both renal cell and transitional cell carcinomas.

• About 51,000 people in the United States will be told they have kidney cancer this year.

• Kidney cancer is almost twice as common in men as in women. Of these cases, about 31,500 will be in men. About 19,500 cases will be in women.

• Most people with kidney cancer are older. It is very uncommon in people younger than age 45. It is most common in people between the ages of 55 and 84.

• Almost half of those with kidney cancer have tumors only in the kidney. About 25% have cancer that has spread near the kidney, which is called local spread. Another 25% have cancer that has spread to other parts of the body.

• About 13,000 people in the United States will die of kidney cancer this year..