Is Polycystic Kidney Disease Linked to Increase Cancer Risk?

Individuals with polycystic kidney disease (PDK) may have an increased risk of developing liver, colon, and kidney cancer, regardless of kidney function, according to the results of a recent study.

There is little data available on the risk of cancer in patients with PKD. For this reason, researchers conducted a nationwide cohort study in Taiwan to further assess this association.
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For their study, the researchers examined data from 4346 patients with PKD and 4346 without the disease. Patients with a history of cancer, chronic kidney disease, or end-stage renal disease were excluded. The primary outcome was diagnosis of cancer during the 14-year follow-up period. The median follow-up period in the polycystic kidney disease cohort was 3.72 years and in the non-polycystic kidney disease cohort was 4.96 years

The overall incidence of cancer was higher in the PKD cohort (20.1 per 1000 person-years) than in the control group (10.9 per 1000 person-years). Specific risks for liver cancer, colon cancer, and kidney cancer were significantly higher in the PKD cohort than the controls.

“To our knowledge, this is the first report of the association of polycystic kidney disease without end-stage renal disease with the risk of liver, colon, and kidney cancer,” the researchers concluded. “Health-care professionals should be aware of this risk, when treating patients with polycystic kidney disease.”

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Yu T, Chuang Y, Yu M, et al. Risk of cancer in patients with polycystic kidney disease: a propensity-score matched analysis of a nationwide, population-based cohort study [published online August 22, 2016]. Lancet Oncology.