Kidney Cancer
The latest kidney cancer treatments
The Weill Cornell Medicine Meyer Cancer Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital provides comprehensive care for people with kidney cancer, including renal cell carcinoma and transitional cell carcinoma. We customize your treatment plan to the biology and stage of your cancer.
Minimally invasive surgery
If you are a candidate for kidney cancer surgery, you will have either your entire kidney removed (radical nephrectomy) or just the part of it containing your tumor (partial nephrectomy). Minimally invasive kidney surgery, including robotic partial nephrectomy, enables us to remove the tumor while preserving as much of your affected kidney — and its function — as possible. Your surgeon will let you know what options are available to you.
Precision therapies
Many people with kidney cancer benefit from "focal" therapies that are directed right to the tumor to kill cancer cells while sparing nearby healthy tissue. We treat some kidney cancers using:
- Cryosurgery (freezing temperatures) or extreme heat (radioablation) applied through a needle into the tumor
- Focused ultrasound (the application of high-energy sound waves)
- Radiation therapy
Medical treatments
Oral anticancer drugs — such as cabozantinib, lenvatinib, sunitinib, sorafenib, and pazopanib — are options for many patients with renal cell cancers. Immunotherapies, such as nivolumab and pembrolizumab, are given in our infusion center. They harness the power of the immune system to find and destroy kidney cancer cells. Your Meyer Cancer Center doctors will match you with the most appropriate and effective treatments.