What Are the Kidney Cancer Risk Factors?

Till date no clinical research has established any specific cause of kidney cancer or renal cell carcinoma. According to medical experts, an individual develops kidney cancer due mutations in DNA of kidney cells. These mutated kidney cells starts growing and dividing much faster compared to the normal kidney cells. Accumulation of these abnormal cells results in formation of tumors, which can invade other parts of the patient’s body as the disease grows into its advanced stage. Although the exact causes of this terminal health disorder is not known, medical researchers have identified certain kidney cancer risk factors; they are:

• Older age is a risk factor of kidney cancer; majority of the kidney cancer patients are above the age of 50 years.
• Men are at higher risk of developing this cancer type compared to the women.
• If you smoke, your chances of having kidney cancer will be more than a person who does not smoke; however, the risk tends to decrease when one quits smoking.
• Obesity or being overweight increases one’s risk of having kidney cancer.
• The incidence of kidney cancer is also more frequent among people with hypertension or high blood pressure.
• People who work in factories and get exposed to chemicals like cadmium and asbestos have high chances of suffering from kidney cancer.
• People receiving dialysis for prolonged period of time as a treatment of kidney failure are also more likely to have kidney cancer.
• Von Hippel-Lindau is a disorder that we inherit; being a victim of this disorder increases one’s chances of developing different kinds of tumors, which also includes tumors formed due to renal cell carcinoma.

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