Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy in Treating Patients With Metastatic or Recurrent Kidney Cancer

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients must have histologically or cytologically confirmed metastatic or recurrent RCC (any histologic subtype) * Patients must have between 1 to 5 new or recurrent lesions suspicious for metastatic RCC on diagnostic imaging * Each extracranial lesion must be =\< 6 cm and amenable to SBRT or surgical excision * Patients must have 3 or fewer brain metastases, of size =\< 4 cm * Brain metastases must be treated prior to enrollment in the study; the modality of treatment of brain metastases can include surgical resection, whole brain radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery, or any combination of the above * Patients who have an intact unresected primary tumor should be considered for radical nephrectomy and primary resection prior to enrollment in the study; if the patient is not eligible for surgical resection, the primary tumor must be amenable to SBRT or request for applications (RFA); generally, this will be defined as a primary tumor \< 10 cm in size or a primary lesion which can be treated to a dose of \>= 8 Gy x 5 without excessive perceived risk of toxicity * Patients must have had at least a computed tomography (CT) of the chest, abdomen, and pelvis within 4 weeks of registration in the trial; CT or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain is only required in the presence of neurologic symptoms * Patients must have had no radiotherapy, immunotherapy, chemotherapy or therapy with targeted agents within the last 1 month * Patients…