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Kidney Cancer survival statistics

This page presents kidney cancer survival statistics including by age, stage at diagnosis, and by deprivation group.

The latest figures for kidney cancer patients in England and Wales report one-year relative survival to be 68% for men and 65% for women, five-year relative survival to be 50% for men and 49% for women while ten-year relative survival rates fell slightly to 42% for men and 44% for women (Figure 3.1). 1,2

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Survival rates for kidney cancer patients have increased significantly since the early 1970s, with an increase of around 50% at one-year and 75% at five-years.

Kidney cancer is one of the few cancers where it is reported that men have a slight survival advantage over women,1 although this does not appear to be true at ten years in England and Wales nor for Scottish patients.3 Relative survival rates for Scottish patients diagnosed in 1997-2001 were 59.1% (males) and 63.9% (females) at one-year and 40.3% (males) and 46.4% (females) at five-years.3

Kidney cancer survival rates by age at diagnosis

As with most cancers there is a steady fall in survival with advancing age at diagnosis. Relative survival rates for kidney cancer patients under 50 are more than twice as high as for patients over 80 (Figure 3.2).4

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Kidney cancer survival rates by stage

Survival from kidney cancer is also heavily dependent on the stage of disease at diagnosis.5-7

Patients with very early stage kidney cancer have five year survival rates in excess of 90%, while only around 10% of patients, who present with distant metastases, are alive five years later. 5-7

Kidney cancer survival rates by deprivation score

There is a significant material deprivation gradient in survival from kidney cancer in England and Wales. Those living in the least deprived areas have significantly better survival than those living in the most deprived areas, using the Carstairs index of deprivation.

This gradient has been apparent since the early 1970s.1 The same deprivation/survival gradient has also been seen in Scotland.8

References for kidney cancer survival

1. Coleman, M.P., et al., Cancer Survival Trends in England & Wales, 1971-1995 Deprivation & NHS Region 1999: The Stationery Office.
2. Coleman, M.P., et al., Trends and socioeconomic inequalities in cancer survival in England and Wales up to 2001. Br J Cancer, 2004. 90(7): p. 1367-73
3. Information and Statistics Division, Scotland Trends in Cancer Survival in Scotland, 1977-2001. August 2004.
4. Office for National Statistics, Report:Cancer survival in England and Wales, 1991-98. Health Statistics Quarterly, 2000: p. 71-80
5. CancerHelp website 2007.
6. Greenberg, D.,Incidence, Mortality and Survival in Kidney cancer in East Anglia. 2007
7. SEER., Cancer Statistics Review 1975-2004. 2007.
8. ISD Scotland, Trends in Cancer Survival in Scotland 1971-1995. 2000

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