Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancers encompass renal cell and renal pelvis cancers, which are, respectively, cancer sites within the main and lower parts of the kidney.
Kidney cancer incidence has been increasing at a rate of about 2 percent per year for the past 65 years; the reasons for this increase are unclear. The overall mortality rate from kidney cancer has slightly increased over the past two decades, though not as rapidly as the incidence rate. Kidney cancer incidence and mortality rates are nearly twofold higher for men than for women.
It is estimated that approximately $1.9 billion* is spent in the United States each year on treatment of kidney cancer.
*In 2004 dollars, as reported in Brown ML, Riley GF,
Schussler N, and Etzioni RD. Estimating health care costs related to cancer treatment from SEER-Medicare data. Medical Care 2002 Aug; 40 (8 Suppl): IV-104-17.
Source for incidence and mortality data: Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program and the National Center for Health Statistics.
