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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Risk factors
By Mayo Clinic staffFactors that can increase the risk of kidney cancer include:
- Older age. Your risk of kidney cancer increases as you age.
- Being male. Men are more likely to develop kidney cancer.
- Smoking. Smokers have a greater risk of kidney cancer than nonsmokers do. The risk decreases after you quit.
- Obesity. People who are obese have a higher risk of kidney cancer than do people who are considered average weight.
- High blood pressure (hypertension). High blood pressure increases your risk of kidney cancer, but it isn't clear why.
- Chemicals in your workplace. Workers who are exposed to certain chemicals on the job may have a higher risk of kidney cancer. People who work with chemicals such as asbestos and cadmium may have an increased risk of kidney cancer.
- Treatment for kidney failure. People who receive long-term dialysis to treat chronic kidney failure have a greater risk of developing kidney cancer.
- Von Hippel-Lindau disease. People with this inherited disorder are likely to develop several kinds of tumors, including, in some cases, kidney cancer.
- Hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma. Having this inherited condition makes it more likely you'll develop one or more kidney cancers.
References
- Kidney cancer. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/kidney.pdf. Accessed Jan. 6, 2010.
- Pili R, et al. Cancer of the kidney. In: Abeloff MD, et al. Abeloff's Clinical Oncology. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone; 2008:1613.
- What you need to know about kidney cancer. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/wyntk/kidney/allpages/print. Accessed Jan. 7, 2010.
- Distress management. Fort Washington, Pa.: National Comprehensive Cancer Network. http://www.nccn.org/professionals/physician_gls/PDF/distress.pdf. Accessed Jan. 14, 2010.
- Raman JD, et al. Management of patients with upper urinary tract transitional cell carcinoma. Nature Clinical Practice Urology. 2007;4:432.
- Moynihan TJ (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. Jan. 24, 2010.
- Raman JD, et al. Renal ablative therapy: Radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation. Journal of Surgical Oncology. 2009;100:639.
- Castle EP (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale/Phoenix, Ariz. Jan. 27, 2010.
- Touijer K, et al. The expanding role of partial nephrectomy: A critical analysis of indications, results and complications. European Urology. 2010;57:214.
