Kidney Cancer Awareness Month: Knowing the Risk Factors That Can Be Changed

What this observance is

Every March, Kidney Cancer Awareness Month draws attention to kidney cancer. The Kidney Cancer Association encourages people to "#OrangeUp" — orange is the awareness color — to support research and raise understanding. The month's purpose is calm and educational: help people recognize kidney cancer, understand the risk factors that can be influenced, and know which symptoms are worth mentioning to a doctor.

What this cancer is

According to the National Cancer Institute, the main types of kidney cancer are renal cell cancer, transitional cell cancer, and Wilms tumor (which occurs in children). NCI describes renal cell cancer as the most common type in adults — a disease in which cancer cells form in the lining of the tiny tubules that filter and clean the blood inside the kidney. The kidneys sit on each side of the backbone, above the waist, and remove waste from the blood to make urine.

NCI notes that early kidney cancer often causes no signs or symptoms, and that when they do appear as a tumor grows, they may include blood in the urine or a lump in the abdomen. These symptoms can have many causes, so NCI advises checking with a doctor rather than assuming the worst.

Screening and prevention (per NCI)

Here it is important to be straightforward: NCI states that it does not have PDQ evidence-based information about screening for kidney cancer, nor about prevention of kidney cancer. In other words, there is no established routine screening test for kidney cancer in the general population, and we will not invent one.

What NCI does describe are risk factors — some of which people can act on. NCI notes that smoking and the misuse of certain pain medicines over a long time can affect the risk of renal cell cancer, and lists other factors such as a family history of the disease and certain inherited genetic conditions. Because tobacco is a modifiable risk factor here, quitting smoking is one concrete step. If you want to think through your overall cancer-screening picture, our free screening check-up tool can help — while keeping in mind that kidney cancer itself has no routine screening test.

How to take part

• If you use tobacco, ask a healthcare professional about quitting smoking.
• Be mindful of long-term overuse of certain pain medicines, and ask your clinician if you have concerns.
• Report symptoms like blood in the urine promptly — they usually have other causes, but they are worth checking.
• Know your family history, which NCI lists as a risk factor.

Questions to ask a healthcare team

• Do I have risk factors for kidney cancer that I can address?
• Is there anything about my pain-medicine use I should reconsider?
• What symptoms, such as blood in the urine, should prompt me to reach out?
• Does my family history change anything about my care?