When tumour cells—which can invade surrounding healthy tissues to reach and implant themselves into distant organs—are located in the kidney, this refers to kidney cancer, or hypernephroma.

Kidney cancer, also known as hypernephroma, can be cured with surgery when it is localised.

Currently, the increased incidence of small tumours allows for the preservation of the organ, avoiding long-term damage to the patient’s renal function. These are delicate surgical techniques that can be performed both openly and laparoscopically. Other techniques to avoid conventional surgery, such as cryoablation or radiofrequency, can also be performed, although with more selective indications.

The Urology Service of the IVO performs all the aforementioned techniques.

However, when the tumour has spread to other sites (metastasis), the prognosis is generally very poor, but a small percentage of patients may still experience a slow evolution over several years. The number of surviving patients and duration of survival is increasing thanks to the introduction of new targeted drugs.

Kidney cancer is one of the few tumours in which spontaneous regression has been described in exceptional cases.