( e explained in part through the risin...)More kidney cancer is detected and treated early, yet death rate rises

e explained, in part, through the rising incidence of larger, more lethal tumors, says lead author John M. Hollingsworth, M.D., fifth-year surgery resident with the Department of Urology at the U-M Medical School. "While more and more small, detectable kidney tumors are being treated, the absolute number of patients with larger, lethal masses has not decreased. And it is these larger, lethal masses that seem to mainly affect mortality," Hollingsworth says.

The researchers say the data also suggest something else: A proportion of these smaller, incidentally found kidney tumors may not merit surgical removal.

"We're not saying that surgery for patients with small renal masses is inappropriate," Hollingsworth says. "Our findings, however, show that their increased treatment has not diminished kidney cancer mortality. This calls to question the effectiveness of our current treatment strategy. Perhaps there are some patients with small kidney tumors for whom surgery is not the best option."

Kidney cancer is the third most common malignancy of the genitourinary system (the reproductive system and urinary system). The American Cancer Society estimates there will be about 38,890 new cases of kidney cancer (24,650 in men and 14,240 in women) in the United States this year, and about 12,840 people (8,130 men and 4,710 women) will die from the disease.

This study included data from 34,503 kidney cancer patients, including age at diagnosis, race, gender and information about the tumor. During the years 1983-2002, researchers found, the overall incidence of kidney cancer rose from 7.1 to 10.8 cases per 100,000 people in the United States, an increase of 52 percent. The largest increase was among people with tumors 2 to 4 centimeters in size (the second-smallest category of tumors in the study), an increase of 1.0 to 3.3 cases per 100,000 people in the United States.

Mortality rates also increased, most notably among people with the
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Source:University of Michigan Health System

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