Treatment of Stage III Kidney (Renal Cell) Cancer
Stage III renal cell cancer means that your primary cancer, no matter what size, has spread beyond the kidney but is still enclosed in the fat around the kidney; or has spread to blood vessels near the kidney; or has spread to only one regional (nearby) lymph node. (The lymph nodes are little filters, scattered throughout the body, that help destroy bacteria and viruses.) In stage III renal cell cancer, the tumor has not spread out of the local area of the kidney.
Stage III renal cell cancer is potentially curable if your doctor removes the cancer surgically. A radical nephrectomy involves removing the entire kidney and the fatty tissue immediately surrounding the kidney. It may also mean removing the nearby adrenal gland, although many surgeons today avoid this if possible.
Research is in progress to refine existing treatments and develop new ones. For information on some of the techniques currently under investigation, see Strategies to Improve Treatment.
This content was last reviewed
August 15, 2010 by Dr. Reshma L. Mahtani.