| | Several factors are known to increase a person's risk of developing kidney cancer.
- Age: Kidney cancer usually strikes people aged 50 to 70 and rarely develops in young adults and children.
- Gender: Men are twice as likely to develop RCC as women.
- Smoking: Smoking doubles the risk of developing RCC. It may cause about 30 percent of RCC in men and approximately 25 percent in women.
- Diet and weight: Overweight people and those who consume high fat diets may have an increased risk of developing RCC.
- Overuse of painkillers containing phenacetin: The Food and Drug Administration banned substances containing phenacetin in 1983.
- Asbestos: Asbestos is a substance that had been used as insulating material, but is currently banned because of its association with lung cancer and other types of cancer. Workers exposed to asbestos, such as construction workers renovating older buildings, may face an increased risk of developing kidney cancer.
- Cadmium exposure: Exposure to cadmium, a metallic element used in metalworking, may increase RCC risk. Cadmium also may increase smoking's kidney-cancer-causing effects.
- Genetic and hereditary risks: The hereditary form of kidney cancer occurs in both kidneys, but the specific genes that increase the risk of RCC are unknown. People with certain gene mutations have an increased risk of developing kidney tumors. Von Hippel-Lindau syndrome causes multiple tumors of the kidneys, eyes, inner ear, brain, spine, adrenal glands, pancreas and epididymis (one of a pair of coiled tubes that carry sperm from the testicles to the tip of the penis).
- About 40 percent of people with this disease have kidney tumors. Researchers have pinpointed the location of the von Hippel-Lindau gene and tests to detect the gene mutation will soon be available. People with tuberous sclerosis also have an increased risk of RCC. This disease causes cysts in the kidneys, liver and pancreas; small tumors of the blood vessels; mental retardation and seizures.
- Long-term dialysis: Long-term dialysis patients may develop cancerous cysts in their kidneys, but these growths usually are found early and can be removed before they spread.
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