How long does it take for kidney cancer to progress from early to late stage?

Written by Zeng Zhong
Urology
Updated on March 19, 2025
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It will likely take about two years. Kidney cancer is a malignant tumor with a relatively high degree of malignancy, and its prognosis is closely related to its specific pathological staging. Therefore, it is not possible to accurately judge this time frame as it relates to individual differences in tumors and the degree of malignancy. Timely detection and standard treatment are crucial. The first choice is surgical treatment, which should be followed by immunotherapy and targeted therapy to prevent and reduce the possibility of postoperative recurrence and metastasis. If controlled effectively, early cure is possible, and the survival period in the middle and late stages can be significantly extended. Early treatment primarily involves surgical operations, which can be complemented by traditional Chinese medicine to reduce the risk of recurrence.

Other Voices

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Written by Li Yuan Wei
Urology
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What are the characteristics of hematuria in renal cancer?

What we commonly refer to as kidney cancer actually includes two aspects. One is renal cell carcinoma, and the other is renal pelvis cancer or ureteral cancer. The characteristics of hematuria are different in these two types. Renal cell carcinoma, simply understood, grows inside the kidney and is not connected with urine. Only when the kidney tumor grows large enough to breach the kidney or renal pelvis will the tumor rupture and bleed, causing hematuria. This generally occurs in the middle to late stages of kidney cancer. On the other hand, renal pelvis cancer or ureteral cancer exhibits intermittent hematuria in the early stages without significant symptoms, but as it progresses to the middle and late stages, symptoms like kidney hydronephrosis and hematuria slowly appear. When diagnosing these conditions, any occurrence of hematuria must be investigated to determine the cause. Initial screening can be done using urinary system ultrasound, urinalysis, or routine urine tests. More precise methods include enhanced CT or MRI of the urinary system, which facilitate easier diagnosis.

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Written by Wang Jian
Urology
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Will there be metastasis after kidney cancer removal?

Currently, all malignancies tend to metastasize. Renal cancer is a common malignant tumor of the kidney in the urinary system. Generally, patients might not exhibit any symptoms in the early stages. The most common symptoms are usually back pain and hematuria, and some patients are diagnosed due to an abdominal mass. The primary treatment for renal cancer is surgical intervention, which is considered the preferred method and is believed to be potentially curative. For patients with stage I, II, III, and IV renal cancer, the survival rates decrease progressively. Patients with stage I and II renal cancer should have follow-ups every three to six months for three consecutive years after surgery, and then annually. Patients with stage III and IV renal cancer should have follow-ups every three months for two years post-treatment, then monthly in the third year, and annually thereafter. Early detection of metastasis is crucial for timely treatment. Therefore, even after nephrectomy, renal cancer might recur, and regular follow-ups are essential.

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Written by Yan Chun
Oncology
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What are the early symptoms of kidney cancer?

Kidney cancer is a common malignant tumor in the urinary system. Many patients with early-stage kidney cancer do not show any symptoms clinically and are incidentally discovered during medical examinations. Many patients in the early stages may also present with painless hematuria, sometimes as gross hematuria and sometimes as microscopic hematuria. Some patients may experience pain in the kidney area due to blood clots formed after hematuria, mainly presenting as intermittent episodes of mild back pain. Additionally, some patients in the early stages might show symptoms of paraneoplastic syndrome, such as hypertension and fever, but these clinical symptoms generally occur at a very low frequency. When patients present with obvious clinical symptoms, it often indicates that the kidney cancer has metastasized, leading to a clinical presentation of mid-to-late stage kidney cancer.

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Urology
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What tests are done to diagnose kidney cancer?

The typical clinical manifestations of renal cancer are hematuria, a mass, and flank pain, but these symptoms generally appear only in the middle and late stages. CT scans often play a decisive role in the diagnosis of renal cancer. Ultrasound examinations are mainly used to screen for the presence of tumors in the entire urinary system, while excretory urography can reveal compression inside the renal pelvis by the tumor, which may show irregular deformations, narrowing, or elongation. Generally speaking, CT scans are quite important for the diagnosis of renal cancer and also play a decisive role.

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Ultrasound manifestation of renal cancer

Kidney cancer is the most common type of kidney malignancy. Pathologically, it is mainly divided into clear cell renal cell carcinoma, chromophobe renal cell carcinoma, papillary renal carcinoma, and collecting duct carcinoma, with clear cell renal cell carcinoma being the most common. Ultrasonographically, it usually appears as round or oval masses, varying in size but generally around 2-4 cm, exhibiting low to medium echo patterns. If the tumor is larger, greater than 5 cm, it may show changes in mixed echo patterns due to possible internal bleeding or cystic changes when the tumor is large. When kidney cancer is suspected on ultrasound, it is best to further proceed with enhanced MRI or enhanced CT scanning.