Cancer risk in association with Parkinson disease: A population-based study

Becker, Claudia; Brobert, Gunnar P.; Johansson, Saga; Jick, Susan S.; Meier, Christoph R.

doi:10.1016/j.parkreldis.2009.11.005

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Volume 16, Issue 3 , Pages 186-190, March 2010

Cancer risk in association with Parkinson disease: A population-based study☆

Claudia Becker
- Basel Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Hospital Pharmacy, University Hospital, Spitalstrasse 26, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland
Gunnar P. Brobert
- AstraZeneca Research & Development, 15185 Södertälje, Sweden
Saga Johansson
- AstraZeneca Research & Development, 43183 Mölndal, Sweden
- Institute of Medicine, Sahlgrenska Academy, Göteborg University, Sweden
Susan S. Jick
- Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University Medical Center, 11 Muzzey Street, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
Christoph R. Meier
- Basel Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Hospital Pharmacy, University Hospital, Spitalstrasse 26, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland
- Boston Collaborative Drug Surveillance Program, Boston University Medical Center, 11 Muzzey Street, Lexington, MA 02421, USA
- Corresponding author at: Basel Pharmacoepidemiology Unit, Hospital Pharmacy, University Hospital, Spitalstrasse 26, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland. Tel.: +41 61 556 53 69; fax: +41 61 265 88 75.

Received 23 June 2009; received in revised form 23 September 2009; accepted 6 November 2009.

Abstract

Purpose

Data from large population-based studies on the association between Parkinson disease (PD) and the risk of developing cancer are scarce. We compared the risk of developing incident cancer between patients with or without PD.

Methods

We conducted a population-based follow-up study and a nested case-control analysis using data from the UK-based General Practice Research Database. We included PD patients aged ≥40 years with a first PD diagnosis between 1994 and 2005, and a matched comparison group free of PD. We assessed cancer incidence rates and relative risk estimates (odds ratios [ORs] with 95% confidence intervals [CI]).

Results

The risk of developing cancer overall was lower in PD patients as compared to patients without PD (crude incidence rate ratio 0.77, 95% CI 0.64–0.92). In the nested case-control analysis (adj. OR for all cancers 0.72, 95% CI 0.59–0.87) the risk reduction was strongest for smoking-related cancers (adj. OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.31–0.72). The adjusted OR for hematological malignancies was 0.32 (95% CI 0.14–0.74). Due to small numbers, ORs for other cancer entities did not reach statistical significance.