Causes And Risk Factors Linked To Kidney Cancer

Hypertension

Kidney cancer is known to occur more often in individuals affected by high blood pressure (hypertension). While some kidney cancers and their treatments have been shown to induce hypertension in some cases, hypertension has also been identified to increase an individual's risk of developing kidney cancer initially. Hypertension causes the arteries responsible for transporting oxygen-rich blood throughout the body to become damaged. The damage in the artery walls is repaired by dense fibrous tissues by healing mechanisms of the individual's body. The scar tissue that replaces the original tissues and builds up over time in hypertensive individuals is unable to expand to accommodate larger volumes of blood flow with normal fluctuations like the original tissue. This process can occur in the renal arteries and those that branch from them that provide the kidney tissues with oxygenated blood. Without enough oxygenated blood reaching kidney tissues, they become hypoxic and incur cellular damage. This damage can result in cellular DNA mutations in the tissues of the kidney, which can cause the development of cancer.

Get more details on risk factors for developing kidney cancer now.