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 may not have had prior bevacizumab, based on case reports of tracheoesophageal fistula in patients treated with bevacizumab and radiotherapy * Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status =\<2 * Age 18 years or older * Life expectancy of \>= 3 months * Patients must have normal organ and marrow function within 30 days of registration, as defined below: * Absolute neutrophil count \>= 500/mcL * Hemoglobin \>= 8.0 g/dL * Platelets \>= 50,000/mcL * Total bilirubin within normal institutional limits * Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase \[SGOT\])/alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase \[SGPT\]) =\< 3 X institutional upper limit of normal if liver metastases are present * Women of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test within 14 days of registration * Patients must have the ability to understand and the willingness to sign a written informed consent document Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have had prior chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, or radiotherapy within 1 month of enrollment * Patients who have had any prior bevacizumab, due to case reports suggesting a possible risk of severe toxicity in combination with radiotherapy * Patients with radiographic or clinical findings of spinal cord compression or cauda equina syndrome with neurologic deficit thought to be due to malignancy * Patients may not be receiving any systemic anti-cancer agents or other investigational agents during radiation therapy * Patients may not have received prior radiation therapy to a site of recurrence which would require overlap of appreciable radiation dose * Known active invasive malignancy except for renal cell carcinoma and/or non-melanoma skin cancer * Severe, active co-morbidity, defined as follows: * Unstable angina and/or congestive heart failure requiring hospitalization within the last 6 months prior to registration; * Transmural myocardial infarction within the last 6 months prior to registration; * Acute bacterial or fungal infection requiring intravenous antibiotics at the time of registration; * Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation or other respiratory illness requiring hospitalization or precluding study therapy within 30 days prior to registration; * Severe hepatic disease, defined as a diagnosis of Child-Pugh class B or C hepatic disease if the liver is involved with metastatic disease; * Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive with cluster of differentiation (CD)4 count \< 200 cells/microliter; note that patients who are HIV positive are eligible, provided they are under treatment with highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and have a CD4 count \>= 200 cells/microliter within 30 days prior to registration; note also that HIV testing is not required for eligibility for this protocol * Pregnancy or women of childbearing potential who are sexually active and not willing/able to use medically acceptable forms of contraception during protocol treatment or for at least 6 months following treatment