Chemotherapy

Chemotherapy (also called chemo) uses drugs to kill cancer cells or stop them from dividing. Chemotherapy may be given alone or with other types of treatment, such as radiation therapy.

For children with kidney cancer, chemotherapy is taken by mouth or injected into a vein. When given this way, chemotherapy enters the bloodstream and can reach cancer cells throughout the body. Chemotherapy that is used alone or in combination to treat kidney cancer include:

Other chemotherapy not listed here may also be used.

Sometimes chemotherapy is given before surgery to reduce the size of the tumor. Shrinking the tumor before surgery can help save as much healthy tissue as possible and reduce problems after surgery. This is called neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

Learn more about how chemotherapy works, how it is given, common side effects, and more at Chemotherapy to Treat Cancer.