J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  2021 Nov;60(4):307-319. 10.4306/jknpa.2021.60.4.307.

The Association Between Cancer and Neurodegenerative Diseases: A Retrospective Cohort Study Using the National Health Insurance Service-National Health Information Database

• Kim JH
• Kim YT
• Lee HJ
• Kim HC

• KMID: 2523101
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4306/jknpa.2021.60.4.307

Abstract

Objectives
According to previous studies, cancer risk has decreased among patients with neurodegenerative disease (ND). However, some types of cancer are positively associated with ND. ND and cancer share common mechanisms of genetic and molecular abnormalities. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between cancer and ND by comparing the incidence of cancer in the ND and control groups.
Methods
A population-based 10-year follow-up study was conducted using the Korean National Health Information Database for 2002–2015. The participants were 60-year-old or more, and they were divided into two groups, including ND (n=9324) and control (n=46683) groups. A multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to evaluate the hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval for determining cancer risk.
Results
About one-third of patients in both groups were diagnosed with ND before the occurrence of cancer during the 10-year follow-up. Cancer was developed in a significantly higher percentage of patients with ND (22.0%) than in the control group (18.4%). Compared to the control group, patients with ND had about 1.5-times higher risk of developing cancer. In the ND group, the incidence of cancer was increased when another ND was diagnosed during the 10-year follow-up.
Conclusion
Our results showed a positive association between ND and cancer. Thus, further replication study is needed to address the positive association between NDs and cancer, and it is also necessary to study the association between NDs and various types of cancer.

Keyword

Cohort studies; Neurodegenerative diseases; Alzheimer’s disease; Parkinson’s disease; Cancer