title: BMI and the risk of renal cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Incidence of obesity and renal cell carcinoma (RCC) are increasing, and RCC remains a lethal disease if not identified at an early stage. There is an increasing body of evidence linking obesity to the risk of developing RCC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There is a wealth of epidemiological evidence supporting a higher risk of developing RCC in obese individuals, and in a dose-response manner. This is particularly pertinent in the development of the clear cell subtype (ccRCC), in which there appears to be a special interplay between ccRCC, obesity and von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) gene defects, driving the proangiogenic/proliferative pathway as a result of metabolites produced by adipose tissue, the epigenetic silencing of a tumour suppressor in close proximity to the VHL gene, hypoxia, obesity-related hypertension, lipid peroxidation and increased insulin-like growth factor-1.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity-related diseases, including cancers, are increasing. There are many complex biomolecular pathways interacting in obesity, especially in ccRCC in which there appears to be a specific interplay in VHL mutations.
authors: The Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors: Barry B
authors: BB
authors: McGuire
authors: John M
authors: JM
authors: Fitzpatrick
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002292:Carcinoma, Renal Cell / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007680:Kidney Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors