Kidney cancer statistics

Cases

New cases of kidney cancer each year, 2017-2019 average, UK.

Deaths

Deaths from kidney cancer, 2017-2019, UK.

 

Survival

Survive kidney cancer for 10 or more years, 2013-2017, England

Preventable cases

Kidney cancer cases are preventable, UK, 2015

 

  • There are around 13,800 new kidney cancer cases in the UK every year, that's 38 every day (2017-2019).
  • Kidney cancer is the 6th most common cancer in the UK, accounting for 4% of all new cancer cases (2017-2019).
  • In females in the UK, kidney cancer is the 10th most common cancer, with around 5,100 new cases every year (2017-2019).
  • In males in the UK, kidney cancer is the 6th most common cancer, with around 8,800 new cases every year (2017-2019).
  • Incidence rates for kidney cancer in the UK are highest in people aged 80 to 84 (2017-2019).
  • Each year around a third (34%) of all new kidney cancer cases in the UK are diagnosed in people aged 75 and over (2017-2019).
  • Since the early 1990s, kidney cancer incidence rates have increased by more than nine-tenths (92%) in the UK. Rates in females have almost doubled (97%), and rates in males have increased by four-fifths (80%) (2017-2019).
  • Over the last decade, kidney cancer incidence rates have increased by around a quarter (26%) in the UK. Rates in females have increased by around a quarter (24%), and rates in males have increased by a quarter (25%) (2017-2019).
  • See our new Early Diagnosis Data Hub for statistics on stage at diagnosis for kidney cancer.
  • The most common specific location for kidney cancers in the UK is the kidney itself (2016-2018).
  • Kidney cancer incidence rates are projected to rise by 15% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040.
  • There could be around 21,900 new cases of kidney cancer every year in the UK by 2038-2040, projections suggest.
  • Kidney cancer incidence rates in England in females are 40% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least, and in males are 17% higher in the most deprived quintile compared with the least (2013-2017).
  • Around 1,100 cases of kidney cancer each year in England are linked with deprivation (around 580 in females and around 510 in males).
  • Incidence rates for kidney cancer are lower in the Asian and Black ethnic groups, and in people of mixed or multiple ethnicity, compared with the White ethnic group, in England (2013-2017). See our publication Cancer Incidence by Broad Ethnic Group for more details.
  • An estimated 46,800 people who had previously been diagnosed with kidney cancer were alive in the UK at the end of 2010.
See more in-depth kidney cancer incidence statistics

  • There are around 4,700 kidney cancer deaths in the UK every year, that's 13 every day (2017-2019).
  • Kidney cancer is the 13th most common cause of cancer death in the UK, accounting for 3% of all cancer deaths (2017-2019).
  • In females in the UK, kidney cancer is the 13th most common cause of cancer death, with around 1,800 deaths every year (2017-2019).
  • In males in the UK, kidney cancer is the 11th most common cause of cancer death, with around 2,900 deaths every year (2017-2019).
  • Mortality rates for kidney cancer in the UK are highest in people aged 90+ (2017-2019).
  • Each year more than half of all kidney cancer deaths (53%) in the UK are in people aged 75 and over (2017-2019).
  • Since the early 1970s, kidney cancer mortality rates have increased by almost three-quarters (73%) in the UK. Rates in females have increased by more than two-thirds (68%), and rates in males have increased by around seven-tenths (69%) (2017-2019).
  • Over the last decade, kidney cancer mortality rates have increased by a twentieth (5%) in the UK. Rates in females have remained stable, and rates in males have remained stable (2017-2019).
  • Mortality rates for kidney cancer (except renal pelvis) are generally lower or similar in people of non-White minority ethnicity, compared with the White ethnic group, where data is available, in England and Wales (2017-2019). See the publication Mortality from leading causes of death by ethnic group, England and Wales.
  • Kidney cancer mortality rates are projected to fall by less than 1% in the UK between 2023-2025 and 2038-2040.
  • There could be around around 6,500 deaths of kidney cancer every year in the UK by 2038-2040, projections suggest.
  • Kidney cancer deaths in England are more common in people living in the most deprived areas.

See more in-depth kidney cancer mortality statistics

  • More than 1 in 2 (51.8%) people diagnosed with kidney cancer in England survive their disease for ten years or more, it is predicted (2013-2017).
  • Kidney cancer ten-year survival in England is similar in females and males (2013-2017).
  • Around 8 in 10 (78.6%) people in England diagnosed with kidney cancer aged 15-44 survive their disease for ten years or more, compared with more than a third (34.6%) of people diagnosed aged 75-99 (2013-2017).
  • Kidney cancer survival has increased in the last 50 years in the UK.
  • In the 1970s, almost a quarter (23.0%) of people diagnosed with kidney cancer survived their disease beyond ten years, by the 2010s it was half (49.5%).
  • Around 7 in 10 (70.4%) people in England diagnosed with kidney cancer in the least deprived group survive their disease for five years or more, compared with around 6 in 10 (60.5%) people in the most deprived group (2016-2020).
  • Five-year relative survival for kidney cancer is below the European average in the UK. Further details on cancer survival in Europe can be found on the EUROCARE website.
  • For kidney cancer, like other cancer sites, survival trends reflect a combination of changes in treatment and stage distribution. These factors themselves can vary by age, sex and deprivation.
  • Further survival statistics by stage can be found on the Early Diagnosis Data Hub and information on treatments for cancer can be found here.
  • Further one-, five- and ten-year survival statistics can be found on the Cancer Statistics Dashboard.

Find further information on our kidney cancer survival trends page

  • A person’s risk of developing cancer depends on many factors, including age, genetics, and exposure to risk factors (including some potentially avoidable lifestyle factors).
  • 1 in 68 UK females and 1 in 38 UK males will be diagnosed with kidney cancer in their lifetime (born in 1961).
  • 34% of kidney cancer cases in the UK are preventable.
  • 13% of kidney cancer cases in the UK are caused by smoking.
  • 24% of kidney cancer cases in the UK are caused by overweight and obesity.

See more in-depth kidney cancer risk statistics

See the interactive cancer treatment online tool produced by the National Cancer Registration and Analysis Service (NCRAS) in partnership with Cancer Research UK (CRUK). This presents, for the first time, population-based statistics on chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical tumour resections in England, by demographic factors and geography.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the many organisations across the UK which collect, analyse, and share the data which we use, and to the patients and public who consent for their data to be used. Find out more about the sources which are essential for our statistics.