Causes of kidney cancer

Cigarette smoking This may increase the risk by as much as double for some people. The longer a person smokes for and the more cigarettes they smoke, the greater the risk.

Being overweight (obese) People who weigh at least a quarter (25%) more than is recommended for their height have a higher than average risk of getting kidney cancer.

Some medical conditions, such as having high blood pressure (hypertension), may increase the risk. People with advanced kidney disease, especially those who need to have dialysis, have a higher risk of developing kidney cancer.

Exposure to certain materials at work may affect a person’s risk. An increased risk of kidney cancer has been linked to working with blast furnaces or coke-ovens in the steel and coal industries, or working with Trichloroethylene (Tric) a petroleum by-product used in the heavy engineering industry. Being exposed to cadmium, lead or asbestos at work may also increase risk.

Inherited risk Most kidney cancers aren’t inherited but occasionally, two or more members of the same family develop kidney cancer. If this happens, other members of the family may have a higher than average risk of getting kidney cancer.

There are some rare conditions, such as von Hippel-Lindau disease, where an inherited faulty gene increases the risk of developing kidney cancer. Kidney cancers that develop because of inherited faulty genes have some differences from other kidney cancers. They are more likely to cause several tumours, to affect both kidneys and to occur at a younger age than other kidney cancers.