There are also benign tumors, called oncocytomas or angiomyolipomas, which are not cancer, although these tumors are sometimes treated by nephrectomy. There are approximately 30,000 cases of kidney cancer per year in the United States and approximately 11,000 patients will die of this disease. It is the 8' most common cancer in men and the 10' most common cancer in women. These tumors occur twice as often in men as in women and usually occur in adults between the ages of 50 and 70. There are environmental risk factors potentially related to renal cell carcinoma.
Smoking doubles the risk of patients having renal cell carcinoma.
There is also a suggestion that some heavy metals, such as exposure to lead and cadmium, may also increase renal cell carcinoma. There are also hereditary risk factors. There are some gene mutations in rare syndromes like tuberous sclerosis and von Hippel Lindau Disease that are associated with an increased risk of developing kidney tumors. Most often in tuberous sclerosis these tumors are benign. In von Hippel Lindau Disease, they are usually malignant.