Kidney and adrenal gland cancer both take place in and around the kidneys. Kidney cancer, specifically, deals with cells that begin to grow out of control in the kidney. Your kidneys are attached to the upper back wall of your abdomen and help remove excess water, salt and waste from your blood. There are several types of kidney cancer, but the most common is Renal Cell Carcinoma. This form of kidney cancer makes up roughly 90% of all cases. It can be classified as either Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma (the most common form of renal cell carcinoma) or Non-clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma.

The adrenal gland sits on top the kidney and is surrounded by fat and thin layer known as Gerota’s fascia. It is made up of two parts, the outer cortex and the inner medulla. The cortex helps produce hormones and is where most adrenal tumors develop. Whereas, the medulla helps produce hormones for the nervous system. There are two types of adrenal cortex tumors, Adenomas (benign) and Carcinomas (malignant). Similar to the cortex, the medulla has two common types of cancers, the pheochromocytomas (which are typically benign) and neuroblastomas.