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You may have just one type of treatment or a combination. Different types of treatment have different goals. Here are some of the types of treatment for kidney cancer and their goals. They’re listed from most commonly used to least commonly used.
Surgery
The goal of surgery is to take out the tumor. Depending on the tumor’s size and where it is, your surgeon may take out your whole kidney or just part of it. Your surgeon may also take out lymph nodes close to your kidney.
When taking out a tumor is not possible, your doctor may do a special surgery to block blood flow to your kidney. This procedure is called arterial embolization. Even when you can have surgery, sometimes this procedure is done the night before surgery to reduce blood flow.
Surgery is sometimes done to remove kidney cancer that has spread to other places in your body (metastasized). Surgery for metastatic kidney cancer is almost never done to cure the cancer. However, in some cases, surgery for cancer that has spread may ease cancer symptoms.
Biological Therapy
This treatment uses substances made in a lab that are also made by your immune system. They work by boosting, directing, or restoring your body’s natural defenses against cancer. Your doctor may combine several biologics for you to take. Or your doctor may suggest you have biologics as well as chemotherapy.
Radiation Therapy
The goal of radiation is to kill cancer cells using high energy X-rays. This treatment is commonly used to treat kidney cancer that has spread to the bones.
Chemotherapy
The goal of chemotherapy is to kill tumor cells directly. Or it can be used to shrink tumors that the surgeon cannot take out or that have spread far from your kidney. It is not used often with kidney cancer because it is less successful than it is for other types of cancer.