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Key Statistics About Kidney Cancer
Kidney cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers in both men and women in the United States. It accounts for about 4% to 5% of all cancers.
How many people get kidney cancer?
The American Cancer Society’s most recent estimates for kidney cancer in the United States for 2024 are:
- About 81,610 new cases of kidney cancer (52,380 in men and 29,230 in women) will be diagnosed.
- About 14,390 people (9,450 men and 4,940 women) will die from this disease
These numbers include all types of kidney and renal pelvis cancers.
Most people with kidney cancer are older. The average age of people when they are diagnosed is 65, with most people being diagnosed between ages 55 and 74. Kidney cancer is uncommon in people younger than age 45.
Kidney cancer is about twice as common in men than in women, and it is more common in African American, American Indian, and Alaska Native people.
Lifetime risk of kidney cancer
Overall, the lifetime risk for developing kidney cancer in men is about 1 in 43 (2.3%). The lifetime risk for women is about 1 in 73 (1.4%). But each person’s risk can be affected by a number of factors, which are described in Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer.
Trends in new cases and death rates
The rate of new kidney cancers found each year has been rising for many years. Part of this rise probably has been due to the use of newer imaging tests such as CT scans, which have picked up some cancers that might never have been found otherwise.
On the other hand, death rates for kidney cancer have been falling for many years.
Survival rates for people diagnosed with kidney cancer are discussed in Survival Rates for Kidney Cancer.
Visit the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center for more key statistics.
The American Cancer Society medical and editorial content team
Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as editors and translators with extensive experience in medical writing.
American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts & Figures 2024. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2024.
McNamara MA, Zhang T, Harrison MR, George DJ. Ch 79 - Cancer of the kidney. In: Niederhuber JE, Armitage JO, Doroshow JH, Kastan MB, Tepper JE, eds. Abeloff’s Clinical Oncology. 6th ed. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier: 2020.
National Cancer Institute. Cancer Stat Facts: Kidney and Renal Pelvis Cancer. 2023. Accessed at https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/kidrp.html on December 5, 2023.
Last Revised: May 1, 2024
American Cancer Society medical information is copyrighted material. For reprint requests, please see our Content Usage Policy.
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