Surgical removal of the kidney (simple nephrectomy) and the surrounding fat, adrenal gland and lymph nodes (radical nephrectomy) can lead to a cure for Stages I and II and can even cure Stage III in a few cases.

               Surgery  Partial nephrectomy can be performed for a tumor in patients with only one kidney or with
               tumors in both kidneys and for small, low-grade tumors. If both kidneys have to be removed, long-term renal dialysis is required.
    Renal transplantation can play a role for cancers in both kidneys. However, there is a risk of metastases being increased because the immune system has to be suppressed by drugs to prevent rejection of a transplanted kidney.
    While there is renewed debate about the effectiveness of radical compared to simple nephrectomy in prolonging survival, no evidence exists that preoperative or postoperative radiation therapy , radiation therapy alone without surgery or renal artery embolization—clotting the arterial supply, thereby destroying both the tumor and the kidney—are beneficial in preventing metastases or increasing survival.

Adjuvant Therapy  Without any effective treatment for advanced disease, there is no role for routine preoperative (neoadjuvant) or postoperative (adjuvant) therapy. Nor is there any for immunotherapy with interferon, interleukin-2 (alone or combined with lymphokine-activated killer cells), monoclonal antibodies or vaccines.