What is kidney cancer?

Kidney cancer starts in the cells of the kidney. Approximately 90% of kidney cancers are renal cell carcinoma (RCC), which begins in cells that line tiny tubes in the kidney’s nephrons (filtering unit). Usually only one kidney is affected, but in rare cases both kidneys may develop cancer.

You can access further information about kidney cancer, including risk factors, symptoms, diagnosis and treatment from Cancer Council Victoria. You can also call our trusted cancer nurses on 13 11 20 for support and to learn about our range of services for people affected by cancer.

The Victorian Cancer Registry also operates an interactive web portal, Data Explorer, which provides more trends and statistics than published here.

How common is kidney cancer?

In 2023, 1162 Victorians were diagnosed with kidney cancer. Of these, there were 769 males and 393 females, representing 66.2% and 33.8% of the total Victorian kidney cancer diagnoses, respectively. Currently, kidney cancer is diagnosed at a rate of 20.4 per 100,000 males and 9.3 per 100,000 females. The median age at diagnosis of kidney cancer is 65 years in males and 67 in females (Figure 1 & 2). Accounting for 3% of all cancers diagnosed and 1.7% of all cancer-related deaths in 2023, kidney cancer was the 7th most commonly diagnosed cancer and the 16th most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Victoria.

Trends in kidney cancer over time

Figure 3a shows for males between 1999 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate of kidney cancer increased by an average of 1.5% per year.

For females between 1998 to 2023 the age standardised incidence rate of kidney cancer increased by an average of 0.8% per year.

Kidney cancer morphology

Figure 4 provides a summary of the different types of cells (morphology) which have caused kidney cancer among all cases. Most kidney cancer tumours, 62.2%, present as clear cell adenocarcinoma tumours.

Geographical variance in kidney cancer by local government area

Figure 5 demonstrates variation in age-standardised incidence rates of kidney cancer, by local government areas. Darker shading indicates areas with higher rates of kidney cancer.

Kidney cancer in people born overseas

Figure 6 shows the age standardised incidence rates of kidney cancer in Australian-born Victorians compared to other major migrant groups, over the five-year period 2018 to 2022. The highest age standardised incidence rate for kidney cancer was 20.6 for males born in the Australia and New Zealand region and the lowest rate of 11.9 was observed in males born in the Africa region. The highest age standardised incidence rate for kidney cancer was 14.4 for females born in the South and Central America region and lowest rate of 5.5 was observed in females born in the Southern and Central Asia region.

Kidney cancer five-year relative survival

Figure 8 shows the change in 5-year survival for kidney cancer, and the 5-year survival trend for all cancers over the same time period. It demonstrates that five-year relative survival has increased for kidney cancer between 1983-1987 and 2018-2022 from 48% to 82%.