Objectives: The present study was conducted to review the epidemiological factors of patients with renal cell carcinoma.
Methods: We reviewed the familial, social, cultural, toxic, occupational and pathological factors of 229 patients who were diagnosed as having renal cell carcinoma between 1975 and 1992 at our hospital.
Results: As in other series, we found a greater predisposition in male patients around the seventh decade. However, unlike other studies, we observed a greater predisposition in the lower social and cultural levels and rural population. Of the epidemiological factors related to adenocarcinoma of the kidney, smoking was the most common in this series (41.8%), followed by high blood pressure (15.7%) and toxic-occupational factors (8.2%). We found no correlation between these factors and tumor stage or survival.
Conclusions: Our data show a greater predisposition for renal cell carcinoma in male patients, around the seventh decade, in the lower social and cultural levels and rural population. Smoking, high blood pressure and occupational exposure to toxic agents were the most common epidemiological factors.