If kidney cancer spreads

Cancer cells can spread from the kidney to other parts of the body. This spread is called metastasis.

Understanding how a type of cancer usually grows and spreads helps your healthcare team plan your treatment and future care. If kidney cancer spreads, it can spread to the following:

• lymph nodes around the kidney
• the main vein in the kidney (called the renal vein)
• the large vein in the abdomen leading to the heart (called the vena cava)
• the other kidney
• adrenal glands
• lung
• liver
• bone
• brain