Epidemiology and Risk Factors for Kidney Cancer

Abstract

The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize evidence of the epidemiology of and risk factors for kidney cancer with a focus on renal cell carcinoma in adults. The etiology of kidney cancer is largely unknown and the main epidemiologic determinants are large geographic and temporal variations in incidence rates. Established risk factors include tobacco smoking, body size, and history of hypertension and chronic kidney disease. Other suspected risk factors require additional investigation, as do the underlying biologic mechanisms that are responsible for disease occurrence. Opportunities to prevent kidney cancer include targeting modifiable risk factors-for example, smoking abstinence/cessation and body weight control-as well as interventions along the diagnostic pathway to improve early diagnosis. Molecular epidemiology, including, but not limited to, metabolomics and tumor genomics, are new areas of research that promise to play important roles in identifying some of the underlying causes of kidney cancer.

Fig 1.

International variations in national estimates of kidney cancer age-standardized incidence rates per 100,000 for (A) men and (B) women. For men and women separately, countries were divided into four groups of fixed incidence rate intervals. Reproduced with permission from International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Fig 2.

Temporal trends in age-standardized kidney cancer incidence rates for 10 selected registries/groups of registries (males, 1977 to 2005). Rates have been smoothed using a 5-year average. Reproduced with permission from International Agency for Research on Cancer.

Fig 3.

Temporal trends in age-standardized (2000 US population) incidence and mortality rates of kidney cancer by race in men in the United States, 1975 to 2014. Modeled rates derived from SEER data originally published by the National Cancer Institute.