ABSTRACT
Renal cell carcinoma (RCC) arises from the cells in the parenchyma of the kidneys. RCC constitutes the seventh most common malignancy in men, and the ninth in women, amounting to 2 percent of the total human cancer burden globally. Risk factors for RCC include cigarette smoking; obesity; diuretic use; exposure to petroleum products, asbestos, and ionizing radiation; high-protein diets; hypertension; kidney transplantation; and HIV infection. RCC is associated with VHL disease, hereditary leiomyomatosis and renal cell cancer (HLRCC), Birt-Hogg-Dube (BHD) syndrome, and hereditary papillary renal cancer (HPRC). Patients with RCC are usually asymptomatic, although some may show flank or abdominal pain. The stage of RCC is often determined by using the TNM system of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC), in which T indicates the size of the primary tumor and extent of invasion; N describes the status of metastasis to regional lymph nodes; and M indicates whether there is distant metastasis. For localized RCC, primary treatment is nephrectomy.
