In a new study, researchers found people with chronic kidney disease have a modestly higher cancer risk.
The cancers include non-melanoma skin cancer and urogenital cancers such as bladder cancer and prostate cancer.
The research was conducted by researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden.
Kidneys are responsible for removing fluid and waste from the body that accumulates each day.
Previous studies showed that kidney dysfunction can cause retention of metabolic waste products, which harms the body health in various ways.
For example, people’s legs can swell, and they may feel it difficult to breathe because fluid is build up in the lungs.
Some studies found that poor kidney functions are linked to a person’s risk of heart disease, anemia, bone fractures, and even cancer.
Chronic kidney disease also increases faster than other noninfectious diseases and has become a heavy health burden for the U.S.
In the current study, the team aimed to examine the potential link between kidney dysfunction and cancer.
They examined 719,033 adults who had different levels of kidney functions. These people aged 40 years and older and had no prior history of cancer.
During the 5-year follow-up, there were 64,319 cases of cancer were detected.
The team found lower kidney functions were linked to higher cancer risk.
The team hopes their findings could increase awareness among healthcare professionals and patients.
People who have other cancer risk factors or family history should modify their lifestyle habits and do more vigilant monitoring.
The team also suggests health care policymakers need to develop better strategies for cancer screening and monitoring in people with chronic kidney disease.
Future work needs to detect if there is a causal link between kidney dysfunction and cancer.
The lead author of the study is Hong Xu, MD, Ph.D. from Karolinska Institutet.
The study is published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
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