What is a risk factor?

A risk factor is anything that may increase your chance of having a disease. Risk factors for a certain type of cancer might include smoking, diet, family history, or many other things. The exact cause of someone’s cancer may not be known. But risk factors can make it more likely for a person to have cancer.

Things you should know about risk factors for cancer:

• Risk factors can increase a person's risk, but they don't always cause the disease. 

• Some people with 1 or more risk factors never develop cancer. Other people with cancer have no known risk factors.

• Some risk factors are very well known. But there's ongoing research about risk factors for many kinds of cancer.

Some risk factors, such as family history, may not be in your control. But others may be things you can change. Knowing the risk factors can help you make choices that might help lower your risk. For instance, if an unhealthy diet is a risk factor, you may choose to eat healthy foods. If excess weight is a risk factor, your healthcare provider may help you lose weight.

Who is at risk for kidney cancer?

Risk factors for kidney cancer include:

• Age. Most people with kidney cancer are age 55 and older. The risk increases with age, but this cancer can happen at any age. It can also affect children and young adults.

• Gender. Men are more likely than women to develop kidney cancer. This may be because men are more likely to smoke and work with cancer-causing chemicals.

• Race. African Americans are at a slightly higher risk for kidney cancer.

• Smoking. The longer you've smoked, the greater your chance of having kidney cancer.

• Obesity. People who are very overweight are more likely to get kidney cancer than those at a healthy weight.

• Medicines. Kidney cancer has been linked to using certain medicines for a long time. These include water pills (diuretics) and over-the-counter pain medicines, like acetaminophen, aspirin, and ibuprofen.

• Contact with chemicals. Contact with certain substances puts you at higher risk for kidney cancer. This includes chemicals and substances like the metal cadmium (in batteries, paint, and welding materials), herbicides, and organic solvents, especially trichloroethylene.

• High blood pressure. People with high blood pressure have a higher risk for kidney cancer. It's not known if the risk is because of the condition, the medicines used to treat it, or both.

• Advanced or chronic kidney disease. This puts you at a higher risk for kidney cancer. People getting dialysis are at an even higher risk.

• Certain inherited conditions. Certain syndromes linked to genes passed in families affect your kidney cancer risk. For instance, people who have von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease are at higher risk for kidney cancer. Other conditions linked to kidney cancer include Birt-Hogg-Dube syndrome, hereditary papillary renal cell carcinoma, Cowden syndrome, and hereditary leiomyomatosis.

• Family history of kidney cancer. People with a family history of kidney cancer have a higher chance of developing the disease. This risk is highest in brothers or sisters of those with the cancer.

What are your risk factors?

Talk with your healthcare provider about your risk factors for kidney cancer. If you have a family history of kidney cancer or other disorders linked with the disease, you may want to ask about genetic testing and kidney cancer screening. (Screening means looking for cancer in people who don't have symptoms.)

If genetic tests show a risk for kidney cancer, your healthcare provider may advise you get screened often for kidney cancer. There are no standard guidelines for how often you should be screened or what tests to use if you are at increased risk. Your healthcare provider will advise a screening schedule based on your overall health and risk factors.