Kidney cancers tend to grow impressively before they can be diagnosed based on symptoms. Fortunately, the increased use of imaging techniques such as CT scans and ultrasound have allowed incidental detection of kidney tumors at an earlier stage. Additionally, a better evaluation of growths within the kidney are possible with improved CT scanning techniques and MRI scans as well. Taken together, smaller tumors can now more commonly be treated by partial nephrectomy (removal of just the tumor and a small rim of normal kidney tissue) instead of taking out the entire kidney.

Better molecular techniques have allowed more accurate identification of the source of kidney tumors, allowing better classification of kidney cancers. This new classification will allow better management approaches as well as to help direct newer treatments for kidney (renal cell) cancers. Genetic evaluation has also helped to identify the causes of some kidney cancers, especially those that run in families or occur in conjunction with the Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome.

Unfortunately, only limited treatments still exist for kidney cancers that have spread beyond the kidney. Immune based treatments such as IL-2 (interleukin-2) are able to result in suppression and remission for some kidney cancers. Many kidney cancers appear to reject chemotherapy drugs by "ejecting" them out of cancer cells with a protein referred to as the MDR (multi-drug resistance) gene. Radiation also has limited activity in kidney cancers. A number of experimental approaches to better target and attack kidney cancers are being developed.

One very exciting prospect for treatment of kidney cancers is the use of monoclonal antibodies, which act as "magic bullets" to attack surface elements on kidney cancer cells. These antibodies have been worked on extensively by Dr. Neil Bander of the Department of Urology at Cornell. This approach has been used to image where the cancer is in the body. Future developments will likely result in monoclonal antibody-based techniques for destruction of kidney cancers.