Uro-genital diseases and renal cell cancer in northern Italy

The relation between selected medical conditions, uro-genital diseases and the risk of renal cell cancer (RCC) was analysed using data from a case-control study of 350 cases of RCC (235 males and 115 females) and 1062 controls (762 males and 300 females) hospitalised for acute, non-neoplastic or uro-genital tract conditions. Associations of borderline statistical significance emerged between RCC risk and history of thyroiditis (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 0.7-4.4), cholelithiasis (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.0-2.3) and, in males, liver cirrhosis (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 0.7-9.7) and hepatitis (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 0.8-4.7). No relation was found between RCC and history of diabetes and gastro-duodenal ulcer. With reference to uro-genital diseases, the OR was elevated for kidney stones (OR = 1.6, 95% CI = 0.9-2.8), gonorrhoea (OR = 1.0, 95% CI = 0.7-3.7), syphilis (OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 0.2-67.3), and genital warts (OR = 4.2, 95% CI = 0.9-19.0) particularly in males. A positive trend was found with the increase of the number of episodes of cystitis (OR = 2.4, 95% CI = 1.2-4.7, for ≥4 episodes) and time lapse since first episodes (OR = 1.7, 95% CI = 0.9-3.2, for ≤15 years) in females.