These Factors Increase the Risk of Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer is one of the 10 most-diagnosed cancers in the United States. Like many of the other cancers on that list—including colon and rectal cancer—kidney cancer is more common now than it used to be. But unlike some others, the underlying causes of kidney cancer are often hard to discern. For example, a significant proportion of breast cancers stem from inherited genetic mutations. But that’s not the case for kidney cancer. Just 3% to 5% of these cancers are caused by hereditary factors. “There are certain genetic conditions associated with increased risk, but the vast majority of kidney cancers are not familial-based,” says Dr. Shilajit Kundu, chief of urologic oncology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Patients always ask me, ‘Why did I get this?’ And it’s tough to give them an answer,” Kundu adds. “I often say it’s just bad luck.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The medical term he and other cancer experts use for this kind of bad luck is “sporadic,” meaning the disease tends to appear randomly without any obvious cause. However, not all kidney cancers arise out of the blue. There are a handful of established risk factors, including exposure to some known carcinogens. There are also demographic factors—such as biological sex and race—associated with increased risks. Here, Kundu and other kidney cancer experts detail medical sc...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Cancer healthscienceclimate Source Type: news