- Age-renal cancer is most common in the 55-60 year age range
- Gender — more frequent in men than women (2:1)
- Race — Caucasian men are at somewhat higher risk than African-Amerian
men (transitional cell carcinoma is twice as common among Caucasian men
as among African-American men).
- Smoking — smokers are four times as likely to develop transitional
cell kidney and ureter cancer as non-smokers.
- Family history — people with a family history of kidney or ureter
cancer, especially when other inherited disorders are present, such as tuberous
sclerosis, von Hippel-Laundau's disease, Sturge-Weber syndrome, neurofibromatosis,
and ataxia telangiectasia.
- Environment
- Exposure to thorotrast
- People living in urban, industrialized areas
- People whose jobs expose them to trace metals such as cadmium
- Exposure to certain chemicals such as nitrosamines, aflatoxins,
lead acetate, and potassium bromate
- Exposure to asbestos
- Intake — Use of analgesic phenacetin for a prolonged time
