Objectives. To evaluate the trends of surgical treatment of the renal tumor in an academic medical center. Methods. Between 2001 and 2010, 505 were treated surgically at the Federal University of Sao Paulo for renal tumors. The following variables were observed and analyzed according to their evolution through time: frequency and types of surgeries performed, operative time, hospital stay, and warm ischemia time for partial nephrectomy.Results. An increase in the frequency of laparoscopic radical nephrectomies, open partial nephrectomies, and laparoscopic partial nephrectomies was observed when comparing the periods from 2001 to 2005 (4.3%, 2.6%, and 12.6%, resp.) and from 2006 to 2010 (13.2%, 18.6%, and 20.2%, resp.; < 0.001). The average of operative time, hospital stay, and tumor size diminished (from 211.7 to 177.17 minutes, from 5.52 to 4.22 days, and from 6.72 to 5.29 cm, resp.) when compared to the periods from 2001 to 2005 and from 2006 to 2010 ( < 0.001, = 0.016, < 0.001, resp.). Conclusion. As time goes by, there has been a significant reduction in the hospital stay time, surgery time, and size of renal tumor in patients treated surgically. The frequencies of minimally invasive and nephron-sparing surgeries have increased over the last years.