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What Causes Kidney Cancer?

Kidney cancer causes are unclear. At this point medical researchers have only been able to learn that kidney cancer begins much in the same way as other cancers begin: through DNA mutations. These mutations program the cells to grow and divide abnormally, forming a tumor. The cells can also spread to other parts of the body (a process known as metastasis).

A type of kidney cancer known as renal cell carcinoma is the most common variety in adults. A number of others are less common, including transitional cell carcinoma, which can begin in the kidneys but can affect the ureters. A condition known as Wilms tumor is the most common cause of kidney cancer in children.

While precise causes have been difficult to isolate, researchers have been able to discover that there are certain risk factors for kidney cancer that seem to make development more likely. It's probably not a coincidence that these possible kidney cancer causes are similar to causes that are often connected to other types of cancer.

As you get older, especially past age 65, your odds of getting kidney cancer increase.

Smokers have a higher chance of getting kidney cancer than nonsmokers do. If you quit, your chances go down.

People who are grossly overweight or morbidly obese are more likely to get kidney cancer.

High blood pressure increases your risk of kidney cancer. High blood pressure and diabetes are both extremely dangerous for those with kidney disease, but the exact connection between hypertension and kidney cancer is unclear.

Kidney failure also appears to be one of the causes of kidney cancer. Individuals who receive kidney dialysis treatments for renal insufficiency or chronic kidney failure develop kidney cancer at a higher rate than those who don't.

Hereditary factors may also play a role. People with an inherited disorder known as Von HippelLindau disease seem to be prone to developing several kinds of tumors, including kidney cancer. There's also a condition known as hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma that appears to be one of the kidney cancer causes.

Gender may be important. Statistically, more men develop kidney cancer than women.

Certain nonmedical factors may helps cause kidney cancer. Environmental factors, like certain kinds of chemicals in your workplace may put you in a higher risk group. Research seems to indicate that people who work around asbestos and cadmium have higher kidney cancer rates than the normal population.

There are a number of kidney tests available to detect kidney cancer and other types of kidney problems. One method employs ultrasound to generate images of the kidneys. CT and MRI scans are other popular diagnostic tools.

Kidney cancer causes few symptoms until it progresses to a later stage. When symptoms of kidney cancer begin to appear, they're likely to include

a dark, cloudy, or even redtinged urine stream (indicating blood in urine),
back pain in the flank region, just below the ribs,
unexplained weight loss,
fatigue and difficulty concentrating
fever, vomiting and nausea.

If you have any of these symptoms, it is important to see your medical professional as soon as you can. Your doctor will run kidney tests and use other diagnostic tools to see if you have kidney problems. Once again, the sooner kidney cancer is detected, the more likely it is there will be a happy outcome.

The incidence of kidney cancer seems to be increasing. More than 50,000 individuals are diagnosed with kidney cancer each year and this number is growing, though it isn't clear why. The death rate for kidney cancer is approximately 12,000 persons annually in the United States.