Most of the time, renal cell cancer is not passed down from parent to child. Renal cell cancer that affects multiple generations of a family is called hereditary renal cell cancer. Hereditary renal cell cancer is rare and accounts for only 5% to 8% of all renal cell cancers.

The 5-year survival rate for patients with ccRCC is 50-69%. When ccRCC is already large or has spread to other parts of the body, treatment is more difficult and the 5-year survival rate is about 10%.

This is because these tumors have more than one cell type visible under a microscope. These tumors are rare, accounting for only 3 to 5 percent of RCC tumors, but they can be quite aggressive and require prompt treatment.

Clear cell renal carcinoma is known for its propensity for metastatic spread. Common sites of metastasis are the lungs, bones, lymph nodes, liver, adrenals and brain, but all organs can be affected. Contralateral ureteral metastasis is a rare phenomenon, and only a few cases have been reported in the literature.

Clear cell carcinoma (0.86 cm/year) tended to grow faster than papillary cell carcinoma (0.28 cm/year) (P = 0.066).

Genetic disorders associated with renal cell carcinoma include von Hippel-Lindau syndrome, hereditary papillary renal carcinoma, Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, and hereditary renal carcinoma.

Patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) tend to have a worse prognosis than patients with other histologic subtypes of RCC, with 5-year disease-specific survival rates of 50-69%, compared with 67-87% for papillary RCC and 78-87% for chRCC.

The aggressive and often insidious nature of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) is reflected by recurrence rates of 20% to 40% after nephrectomy for clinically localized disease.

Most people who have renal cell carcinoma were diagnosed after age 55, and the average age at the time of diagnosis is 71. The condition is relatively uncommon in people younger than age 45. Furthermore, research shows that kidney cancer tends to occur more frequently in men than women.

While most renal disorders are not hereditary, some kidney conditions have known inherited genetic components. Common hereditary kidney disorders include: Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, a generally late-onset condition that leads to progressive cyst development.

Early diagnosis, surgery while cancer is confined to kidney are key, but pharmacological agents are used for Stage IV.

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma is named after how the tumor looks under the microscope. The cells in the tumor look clear, like bubbles. How common is ccRCC?

There are several treatments for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma available in North America. IL-2 and sunitinib – as well as the medications temsirolimus, bevacizumab with interferon therapy, pazopanib, and sorafenib – are approved by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

Hereditary renal cell cancer is rare and accounts for only 5% to 8% of all renal cell cancers. It is usually linked to a hereditary syndrome. A hereditary syndrome is a set of signs and symptoms or conditions that occur together and is caused by certain changes in the genes that can be passed down from a parent to a child.

A retrospective analysis of 1,235 patients with RCC who underwent genetic testing revealed that 6.1% of this population had positive genetic test results, 75.5% had negative test results, and 18.4% had a variant of unknown significance. The only variable associated with a positive test result was younger age at diagnosis of RCC. [ 12]