Obesity blamed for rise in kidney cancer cases

Kidney cancer cases hit more than 9,000 in 2009, treble the figure of just under 3,000 in 1975.

It is now the eighth most common cancer in Britain, climbing from 14th place in 1975.

Experts believe that, after smoking, obesity is the most preventable risk factor for developing the disease, increasing the risk by 70 per cent.

Cancer Research UK, which released the figures, estimates that about a quarter of kidney cancer cases in men and 22 per cent in women are linked to being overweight.

Overweight people produce higher levels of some hormones which can help fuel cancer.

In 2009, almost a quarter of adults in England were obese. A further 44 per cent of men and 33 per cent of women were overweight.

Professor Tim Eisen, a Cancer Research UK kidney cancer expert based at the University of Cambridge, said new drugs had been developed to destroy the blood supply to kidney tumours, but were not a cure.

“It is best to prevent the problem in the first place – maintaining a healthy weight and not smoking are the best ways of doing that.

“The other important point is to see your doctor if you have noticed blood in your urine as this can be an early sign of something wrong.

“If the kidney cancer is caught early, it can often be cured by surgery.”

While some of the increase in cases could be down to better detection of kidney tumours, evidence suggests there has also been a rise in the number of advanced kidney cancer cases – suggesting other factors are also in play.

In 1975, 2,953 people were diagnosed with kidney cancer in Britain. Latest figures show there were 9,042 cases in 2009, up from 8,848 in 2008.