Researchers say the high rate of smoking among people with multiple sclerosis could be one reason for the elevated risk.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) may have a greater risk for developing cancer than people in the general population, according to new research.
These findings were presented last week at the fifth European Academy of Neurology (EAN) Congress in Oslo, Norway.
“This study is the first to compare cancer risk in MS with non-affected siblings of MS patients. The risk assessment between these two groups is extremely interesting because they share the same genetics and environmental conditions,” Nina Grytten, PhD, postdoctoral researcher at the Western Norway Regional Health Authority and lead researcher, said in a press release.
The research was based on data from various Norwegian MS and cancer registries.
Included were 6,883 people with MS who were born between 1930 and 1979, as well as 8,918 siblings and 37,919 people without MS.
The overall cancer risk for people with MS was 14 percent higher than for people without MS, according to the study’s researchers.
They also reported the risk was especially high for certain cancers. The increase in risk was 66 percent for respiratory cancers, 52 percent for central nervous system cancers, and 51 percent for urinary cancers.
When compared with their siblings, however, people with MS didn’t have an overall higher risk for cancer. That’s because siblings of people with MS were found to have a higher risk for hematological cancers than people with MS and people in the general population.
Study authors acknowledge the increased cancer risk for people with MS may be due to excessive smoking and surveillance bias.
This was an observational study. Grytten cautioned that conclusions about causality can’t be made.