What Known Risk Factors Are Seen in Kidney Cancer?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Pavlos Msaouel
In this program:
What kidney cancer risk factors can increase the likelihood of developing the cancer? Watch as Dr. Pavlos Msaouel shares an overview of genetic and environmental factors that can put people at higher kidney cancer risk.
Transcript
Interviewer:
As a cancer biologist, what are the known risk factors seen in kidney cancer?
Dr. Pavlos Msaouel:
So the risk factors can be divided into the genetic ones, those associated with your genes, your DNA, and the more environmental ones, those that have to do with exposures or other things that happen in your environment, so kidney cancer can be associated with certain genetic syndromes, meaning it can sometimes be hereditary, and there are certain hereditary syndromes, one of the very problem is called VHL syndrome that is associated with a much, higher, increased risk for kidney cancer than average. Another genetic in a way component that can increase the risk for a certain type of kidney cancer is the presence of a blood disorder called the sickle cell trait, which can make the red blood cells, the cells in our body that carry our oxygen sickle, which can increase the risk for a specific kidney cancer called renal medullary carcinoma abbreviated as RMC. Another risk factor for kidney cancer is the fact that men are more likely to develop kidney cancer than women, so kidney cancer is on average twice more common in men and women, older age on average, increases your risk for kidney cancer, and then there are the more environmental risk factors like smoke. So smoking certainly increases your risk for kidney cancer, high blood pressure can also increase the risk for kidney cancer, obesity can also increase your risk for kidney cancer, and then even certain occupational exposures to certain compounds like asbestos, cadmium, petroleum by-products like gasoline can potentially increase the risk for kidney cancer, and even exposures when the person was young to certain chemotherapies for the treatment of other diseases or other cancers can increase the risk of kidney cancer in particular a specific subtype called translocation kidney cancer. So those, I would say, are some of the major common risk factors for kidney cancers.
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