Cancer risk and related mortality significantly higher among patients with kidney disease

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Apr 8 2022

Patients with kidney disease may have an increased risk of cancer and may be more likely to die from cancer. Researchers used healthcare databases in Ontario, Canada, to categorize patients according to their kidney function (using blood test data) or records that identify patients receiving dialysis or patients with kidney transplants.

They then looked at the patients' risk of being diagnosed with cancer and of dying of cancer. Patients with mild to moderate kidney disease and kidney transplant recipients had a higher risk of cancer than patients with normal kidney function. Patients with kidney disease had a higher risk of dying from cancer than patients with normal kidney function, particularly from cancers such as bladder, kidney, and multiple myeloma.

This study, published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases (AJKD), suggests that improved strategies to detect and treat cancer in patients with kidney disease are needed.