partial nephrectomy may be a surgery in which kidney cancer is removed along with a rim of normal kidney tissue next o it . After the cancer and therefore the rim of normal kidney tissue are removed, the kidney is reconstructed. The goal is to save as much kidney function as possible. This is important because the kidneys are the main filters of the body and they are essential for life. After the tumor and normal tissue are removed from the kidney, they're sent to a laboratory to be tested.