Kidney cancer symptoms and risk factors

What are the symptoms?

Most people with kidney cancer have no symptoms and many are diagnosed with the disease when they see a doctor for an unrelated reason.

If symptoms occur, they usually include:

• blood in the urine (haematuria) or a change in urine colour – it may look red, dark, rusty or brown
• pain in the lower back or side not caused by injury
• a lump in the side or abdomen (belly)
• constant tiredness
• unexplained weight loss
• fever (not caused by a cold or flu).

Cancer can affect the amount of hormones produced by the kidneys. If this affects blood production, it can lead to a low red blood cell count (anaemia), a high red blood cell count (polycythaemia) or high levels of calcium in the blood (hypercalcaemia). Sometimes, these problems can cause symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, headaches, constipation, abdominal (belly) pain and depression.

The symptoms listed above can also occur with other illnesses, so they don’t necessarily mean you have kidney cancer – only testing can confirm a diagnosis. If you are concerned, make an appointment with your general practitioner (GP).

What are the risk factors?

The exact cause of kidney cancer is not known. Research shows that people with certain risk factors are more likely to develop kidney cancer. Having a risk factor does not mean you will develop kidney cancer, and some people develop kidney cancer without having any known risk factors. If you are concerned, talk to your doctor.

Risk factors for kidney cancer include:

• smoking – people who smoke have almost twice the risk of developing kidney cancer as those who don’t smoke. About 1 in 3 kidney cancers are thought to be related to smoking; the longer a person smokes and the more they smoke, the greater the risk
• obesity – too much body fat may cause changes to some hormones that can lead to kidney cancer
• high blood pressure – whatever the cause, high blood pressure increases the risk of kidney cancer
• kidney failure – people with end-stage kidney disease have a higher risk of developing kidney cancer
• family history – people with a parent, brother or sister (first-degree relative) with kidney cancer are at increased risk
• inherited conditions – about 2–3% of kidney cancers develop in people who have particular inherited syndromes, including von Hippel–Lindau disease, Birt-Hogg–Dubé syndrome, hereditary papillary RCC, hereditary leiomyomatosis RCC, tuberous sclerosis, and Lynch syndrome.

Kidney cancer can be a silent cancer until it is quite advanced, so I do feel thankful that it was discovered incidentally, when it was small and easier to treat.

Chris