We are pleased to announce the publication of the second National Kidney Cancer Audit (NKCA) State of the Nation Patient and Public Report 2025 from the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Action Kidney Cancer represent the views of kidney cancer patients in England and Wales on the NKCA Patient and Public Forum.

The overall aim of the NCKA is to improve the quality of care for people with kidney cancer in England and Wales. The NKCA looks at the care, treatment and outcomes for kidney cancer patients treated in NHS hospitals in England and Wales.

The audit’s specific objectives are to look at:

  1. Increasing the fairness in timely access to evidence-based kidney cancer services across England and Wales
  2. Increasing the use of kidney tumour biopsy
  3. Speed up treatment for patients with high-risk kidney cancer
  4. Reducing over-treatment and under-treatment of kidney cancer patients
  5. Increasing the use of anticancer therapy in suitable patients without severe side effects.

Individual kidney cancer centres send information about their service to the national cancer registration databases, and these data are used to build a picture of what is happening in NHS kidney cancer services in England and Wales. More information about the NKCA can be found on their website here.

The audit measures performance on the diagnosis and treatment of kidney cancer and assesses what kidney cancer services are providing for patients. The audit uses targets about how kidney cancer patients should be cared for and we can see if kidney cancer care in the NHS is getting better or worse compared to previous years.

The audit (published 11 September 2025) reported that only 1% of kidney cancer patients in England participated in clinical trials between 2020 and 2022. This percentage is significantly lower compared to some other cancers; for example, participation for blood cancer patients is approximately 25%. Action Kidney Cancer is working to increase awareness of clinical trials with the aim of improving access to innovative kidney cancer treatments through trial participation.

Visit our website to learn more about clinical trials here.

Visit our clinical trial database to find a kidney cancer clinical trial near you.

Download and read the patient and public audit report here: NKCA State of the Nation Patient and Public Report 2025

A version of the audit exists for doctors, surgeons, nurses and other healthcare professionals with more details, and this can be found on the NKCA website.