Is there a scientifically-proven connection between asbestos fibers and kidney cancer?

Short Answer: Yes. Long-term asbestos exposure increases the risk of kidney cancer by 20 percent. 

Additionally, asbestos fibers usually cause the most aggressive kind of kidney cancer. Research in this area is just now emerging. For many years, the asbestos industry covered up the link between asbestos fibers and serious illness. As part of that coverup, industry leaders discredited scientists who studied the health effects of asbestos exposure.

Asbestos fibers are microscopic and toxic, and swallowing them can cause a variety of digestive tract problems, including kidney cancer.

Over the last hundred years, scientists have connected asbestos exposure with an ever-increasing list of serious illnesses that, in many cases, are fatal. More on that below.

Cancer treatments, especially treatments for aggressive diseases, cost thousands of dollars a month. Mostly for liability reasons, many health insurance plans don’t cover injury-relate costs. A health insurance company won’t pay a bill if there’s a possibility some else might pay it. So, quite frankly, asbestos exposure victims need money, and an asbestos exposure lawyer can obtain it. Since the veil has been lifted and the asbestos exposure-serious illness link is now clear, these cases usually settle out of court.

Kidney Cancer: An Overview

The body’s two bean-shaped kidneys, each of which is about the size of a fist, serve many important functions. 

  • They remove excess water, salt, and waste products from the body,
  • They help control blood pressure by making a hormone called renin, and
  • They help make sure the body has enough red blood cells by making a hormone called erythropoietin. This hormone tells the bone marrow to make more red blood cells.

Kidney Cancer Risk Factors

Risky lifestyle practices, mostly smoking, excess alcohol consumption, and obesity, cause about 80 percent of cancer cases. Family genetic history is the second leading cause. Environmental or occupational kidney cancer, such as asbestos exposure kidney cancer, is so rare that most doctors don’t consider the possibility.

Kidney cancer is most common in people between the ages of 65 and 74. Men are twice as likely as women to develop the disease. Three types of kidney cancer usually affect adults.

  • Renal Cell Carcinoma: RCC is, by far, the most common form of kidney cancer in adults. Renal cell carcinoma usually develops as a single tumor in one kidney, but it can affect both kidneys simultaneously. RCC begins in the cells that line your kidney’s tubules (tiny tubes that return nutrients and fluid back to your blood). 
  • Transitional Cell Cancer: Fewer than 10 percent of patients develop TCC. It usually begins in the renal pelvis (connection between the ureter and the main part of the kidney. TCC can also occur in the ureters or bladder.
  • Renal Sarcoma: The least common form of kidney cancer (about 1 percent of kidney cancer cases) begins in the connective tissues of the kidneys and, if not treated, can spread to nearby organs and bones.

A fourth kind of kidney cancer, Wilms Tumor cancer, affects children and is unrelated to asbestos exposure.

Hematuria (blood in the urine) is the signature kidney cancer symptom. Other symptoms include weight loss, fatigue, flank pain, and anemia.

Should I Get Tested for Asbestos Exposure or Kidney Cancer?

Frequently, these symptoms don’t appear until kidney cancer is at least at Stage II. Advanced medical tests, such as MRIs and CT scans, can detect kidney cancer and other kinds of asbestos exposure-related cancer much earlier.

Health screening is advisable if you were ever exposed to asbestos. 

Domestic asbestos use peaked in the mid-1970s. This use affected a wide variety of people, including many individuals who never got close to a factory, mine, or other asbestos hotspot.

  • Primary: Asbestos is a mineral that doesn’t conduct heat or electricity. Miners who pulled asbestos out of the ground and workers who made asbestos-laced products many years ago are just now getting sick and filing legal claims. Adding to the risk, many of these individuals worked in asbestos-laced buildings.
  • Secundaria: The workers who made asbestos-containing products shipped these products all over the country. These manufactured products included building materials (mostly insulation) and auto parts (mostly brake pads). 
  • Ambient: Full-time domestic caregivers might be the most common ambient (environmental) exposure victims. As part of the aforementioned cover-up, asbestos providers either didn’t provide PPE (personal protective equipment) or didn’t push its use. As a result, workers unwittingly brought asbestos fibers home, where they spread to friends and family.

Asbestos use leveled off during the 1970s and 1980s. Then, it dropped significantly in the 1990s, after the government imposed a partial asbestos ban in 1989. If you belonged in one of the three aforementioned categories before 1989, you should get regularly tested for asbestos exposure illnesses.

The risk of illness didn’t end in 1989. The partial ban didn’t include an abatement requirement. Crumbling structures release asbestos fibers into the air, and demolition or renovation workers are directly exposed to this substance.

Asbestos testing isn’t free or cheap. To obtain the compensation these families need to fight their illnesses, an asbestos exposure lawyer must build a strong claim. That’s especially true since, although victim-friendly laws are in place, courts closely scrutinize these claims.

Cancer and other asbestos exposure-related illnesses, like mesothelioma, are very difficult to diagnose. For this reason, an asbestos exposure claim should be based on a medical expert’s diagnosis, instead of an ER or family doctor’s diagnosis.

Mesothelioma is a rare and aggressive form of heart-lung cancer. A tumor forms in a very delicate area of the body. So, it’s difficult to treat, based on that location alone. Making matters worse, mesothelioma develops slowly and then spreads quickly. 

Probable Exposure to Asbestos and the Likelihood of Cancer

A medical diagnosis and a probable exposure window are closely related. The diagnosing physician can usually determine the approximate exposure time, based on the tumor’s size and a few other factors.

We take an extra step. Our W.A.R.D. database quickly identifies local asbestos hotspots. Thanks to this technological shortcut, our team hits the ground running.

If the company is still in business, an asbestos exposure lawyer normally files a civil claim. To punish companies for covering up the risk and intentionally endangering people, the laws in this area are extremely favorable. 

Un bankruptcy victim compensation fund claim is usually an option if the responsible company is defunct. Most companies transferred most or all of their assets into these funds when they became insolvent.