In this paper, we reviewed the lymphatic drainage of the kidney and lymph node metastasis of kidney cancer, risk factors for lymph node metastasis, the scope of lymph node dissection and the significance of retroperitoneal lymph node dissection, and concluded that only 1/3 of patients with lymph node metastasis had hilar lymph node metastasis, and dissection of hilar lymph nodes alone to assess staging had a high false-negative rate; tumor cell grade 3-4, presence of sarcomatoid component, tumor Regional lymph node dissection was performed from the root of the superior mesenteric artery to the level of the aortic bifurcation, including para-aortic, superficial and post-aortic lymph nodes in the left kidney, and superficial, posterior, inter-aortic and pre-aortic lymph nodes in the right kidney. The expanded lymph node dissection (bilateral lymph node dissection) is a combination of regional lymph node dissection; lymph node dissection has a role in the correct pathological staging of renal cancer, and lymph node dissection still has a very important role in the treatment of renal cancer.