Tag: cancer risk

Categories : Cancer Neurodegenerative DiseasesTags :

MS Associated with an Increased Risk of Certain Cancers

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This is a pseudo-coloured image of high-resolution gradient-echo MRI scan of a fixed cerebral hemisphere from a person with multiple sclerosis.

Credit: Govind Bhagavatheeshwaran, Daniel Reich, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health

A new study has found some cancers to be slightly more frequent in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in people without MS. The study is published online in Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Types of cancers found to have a small increased risk include bladder, brain and cervical cancers.

“People with MS undergo an increased number of tests to monitor MS, making it more likely to detect other diseases,” said study author Emmanuelle Leray, PhD, of Rennes University in France. “We found an association between some types of cancer and MS which may have different explanations depending on a person’s age and the types of cancer. Overall, our study found the increased risk of cancer was quite small.”

For the study, researchers reviewed 10 years of data in the French national health care database. Researchers identified 140 649 people with MS and matched them for factors such as age, sex and residence to 562 596 people without MS. All participants were cancer free three years before the study. They were followed for an average of eight years.

During the study, 8,368 people with MS and 31,796 people without MS developed cancer.

Researchers determined there were 799 cancers per 100 000 person-years for people with MS and 736 cancers per 100 000 person-years for people without MS. Person-years represent both the number of people in the study and the amount of time each person spends in the study.

Researchers found people with MS had a 6% increased risk of developing any type of cancer regardless of age, sex and residence. They also found cancer risk was higher in those under 55 and lower in people 65 and older when compared to people without MS.

Researchers then looked at cancer types. People with MS had a 71% increased risk for bladder cancer, a 68% increased risk for brain cancer and a 24% increased risk for cervical cancer. However, they also had a 20% lower risk of prostate cancer, a 10% lower risk of colorectal cancer and a 9% lower risk of breast cancer.

“While our study found a higher risk for brain cancer, it may be due in part to earlier detection in those with MS since they regularly have brain scans which may detect cancers earlier, before a person has symptoms,” said Leray. “Frequent urinary tract infections in people with MS and the use of immunosuppressant drugs may contribute to their higher risk of bladder and cervical cancers.”

Leray added, “The lower risk for colorectal and breast cancers may be due in part to fewer people with MS getting screened for cancer in older age when they may be experiencing more MS symptoms. More research is needed, including studies that look at more closely at how cancer screenings may play a role.”

A limitation of the study was that researchers were unable to adjust for factors such as education, income, smoking and alcohol consumption since this information was not available in the national database.

Source: American Academy of Neurology

Categories : Metabolic DisordersTags :

Worsening Metabolic Syndrome Exacerbates Cancer Risk

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Study reveals a significant link, suggesting that managing metabolic syndrome may help prevent cancer.

Source: Pixabay CC0

New research indicates that individuals with persistent and worsening metabolic syndrome – which encompasses conditions such as high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, excess abdominal fat, and abnormal cholesterol – face an elevated risk of developing various types of cancer. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

In the study, 44 115 adults in China with an average age of 49 years were categorised into 4 different trajectories based on trends from 2006 (the time of the first physical exam) to 2010: 10.56% exhibited a low-stable pattern and maintained low metabolic syndrome scores; 40.84% exhibited a moderate-low pattern and maintained moderate to low metabolic syndrome scores; 41.46% exhibited a moderate-high pattern and consistently maintained moderate to high metabolic syndrome scores; and 7.14% exhibited an elevated-increasing pattern in which initially elevated metabolic syndrome scores increased over time.

During the follow-up period of 2010–2021, with a median follow-up of 9.4 years, there were 2271 cancer diagnoses among participants. Compared with participants with a low-stable trajectory pattern, those with an elevated-increasing trajectory pattern had 1.3-, 2.1-, 3.3-, 4.5-, 2.5-, and 1.6-times higher risks of developing any cancer, breast cancer, endometrial cancer, kidney cancer, colorectal cancer, and liver cancer, respectively.

Even when the low-stable, moderate-low, and moderate-high trajectory pattern groups were combined, the elevated-increasing trajectory pattern group had higher risks of developing all cancer types.

Also, participants with persistently high metabolic syndrome scores and concurrent chronic inflammation had the highest risks of developing breast, endometrial, colon, and liver cancer, whereas the risk of kidney cancer was predominantly observed among participants with persistently high scores but without chronic inflammation.

“This research suggests that proactive and continuous management of metabolic syndrome may serve as an essential strategy in preventing cancer,” said senior author Han-Ping Shi, MD, PhD, of Capital Medical University, in Beijing. “Our study can guide future research into the biological mechanisms linking metabolic syndrome to cancer, potentially resulting in targeted treatments or preventive strategies. Formal evaluation of these interventions will be needed to determine if they are able to modulate cancer risk.” 

Source: Wiley