Saudi Arabia records 200 kidney cancer cases per annum

The Kingdom registers 200 cases of kidney cancer per year, most of them in the regions of Makkah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province, according to Ashraf Abu Samra of the Saudi Urological Society.

Speaking on the sidelines of the recent Saudi Conference on Urological Tumors in Sharm Al-Sheikh in Egypt, Abu Samra said that studies showed a growth in kidney cancer worldwide, but particularly in the Arab World.

“It’s important that persons with a family history of kidney cancer inform their doctors so that they undergo the necessary periodical tests,” he said.

Abu Samra, who was chairing the conference, described the causes of kidney cancer as depending on “lifestyle and profession”.

“Smoking, for example, increases the chances of developing cancerous kidney cells by approximately 40 percent,” he said. “Giving up smoking can reduce those chances, but anyone who’s ever smoked will always be at more risk.” “Obesity is a second factor, and represents a factor in 20 percent of cases,” he said.

Family medical history is a third factor, while Abu Samra also noted that males were more vulnerable than females.

“That may be explained by the fact that men smoke more than women and are more exposed to chemicals in the workplace,” he said.

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