Overexpression of vascular endothelial growth factor is implicated in the pathogenesis of both renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). We evaluated the association between age-related macular degeneration and RCC risk.
We conducted a matched case-control study within a population-representative database from the United Kingdom (UK). Study cases were defined as individuals with any diagnostic code of RCC. For every case, four eligible controls were matched on age, sex, practice site, calendar time and duration of follow-up. Exposure of interest was diagnosis of AMD prior to cancer diagnosis. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for RCC were estimated using conditional logistic regression. In a secondary analysis, we evaluated the association between other retinopathies and RCC and AMD and the hypovascular pancreatic cancer.
The study population included 1,547 patients with RCC and 6,066 matched controls. Median follow-up time was 6 years (IQR 3-9). AMD diagnosis was associated with a significantly increased RCC risk (OR 1.89, 95%CI 1.09-3.29). In contrast, there was no association between other retinopathies and RCC risk (OR 0.8, 95%CI 0.56-1.15). AMD was associated with a lower risk for pancreatic cancer (OR 0.47, 95%CI 0.35-0.64).
Patients with AMD may be at higher risk for RCC. Providers should be aware of this potential link and consider screening for RCC within this population.
Providers should be aware of the potential link between AMD and RCC.
Cancer epidemiology, biomarkers & prevention : a publication of the American Association for Cancer Research, cosponsored by the American Society of Preventive Oncology. 2017 Jan 06 [Epub ahead of print]
Daniel Keizman, Yu-Xiao Yang, Maya Gottfried, Hadas Dresler, Ilan Leibovitch, Kevin Haynes, Ronac Mamtani, Ben Boursi
Oncology, Meir Medical Center ., Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania., Oncology, Meir Medical Center., Urology, Meir Medical Center.