Treatments for stage 2 kidney cancer

The following are treatment options for stage 2 kidney cancer. Your healthcare team will suggest treatments based on your needs and work with you to develop a treatment plan.

Surgery is a main treatment for stage 2 kidney cancer. You will be offered one of the following surgeries.

A radical nephrectomy is the type of surgery usually offered. This surgery removes the whole kidney, the ureter attached to the kidney and the layer of fat around the kidney. The adrenal gland is sometimes removed as well.

A partial nephrectomy removes the tumour and an area of healthy tissue around it. This surgery is done to keep as much kidney as possible. Surgeons use this type of nephrectomy to have the kidney work as normally as possible and maintain your quality of life. You may be offered this surgery if you have only one kidney or tumours in both kidneys.

Ablation therapy uses heat or cold to destroy the kidney tumour. You may be offered ablation therapy if you are not well enough to have surgery or if you only have one working kidney.

Talk to your doctor about clinical trials open to people with kidney cancer in Canada. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, find and treat cancer. Find out more about clinical trials.