A systematic review of the incidence and prevalence of cancer in multiple sclerosis

TY - JOUR

T1 - A systematic review of the incidence and prevalence of cancer in multiple sclerosis

AU - Marrie, Ruth Ann

AU - Reider, Nadia

AU - Cohen, Jeffrey

AU - Stuve, Olaf

AU - Trojano, Maria

AU - Sorensen, Per Soelberg

AU - Reingold, Stephen C

AU - Cutter, Gary

N1 - © The Author(s), 2014.

PY - 2015/3/16

Y1 - 2015/3/16

N2 - BACKGROUND: Studies of cancer incidence and prevalence in multiple sclerosis (MS) have produced conflicting results.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence and prevalence of cancer in persons with MS and review the quality of included studies.METHODS: We searched the PUBMED, SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge, and EMBASE databases, conference proceedings, and reference lists of all articles retrieved. Abstracts were screened for relevance by two reviewers. Data from included articles were captured using a standardized form, and the abstraction was verified by a second reviewer. We assessed quality of the included studies. We quantitatively assessed studies using the I (2) statistic, and conducted meta-analyses for population-based studies.RESULTS: We identified 38 studies. Estimates for incidence and prevalence varied substantially for most cancers. In population-based studies, cervical, breast, and digestive cancers had the highest incidence. The risk of meningiomas and urinary system cancers appeared higher than expected, while the risks of pancreatic, ovarian, prostate and testicular cancer were lower than expected.CONCLUSION: The complexity of understanding cancer risk in MS is augmented by inconsistencies in study design, and the relative paucity of age, sex and ethnicity-specific risk estimates from which the strong impact of age on the incidence of cancers can be assessed.

AB - BACKGROUND: Studies of cancer incidence and prevalence in multiple sclerosis (MS) have produced conflicting results.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the incidence and prevalence of cancer in persons with MS and review the quality of included studies.METHODS: We searched the PUBMED, SCOPUS, Web of Knowledge, and EMBASE databases, conference proceedings, and reference lists of all articles retrieved. Abstracts were screened for relevance by two reviewers. Data from included articles were captured using a standardized form, and the abstraction was verified by a second reviewer. We assessed quality of the included studies. We quantitatively assessed studies using the I (2) statistic, and conducted meta-analyses for population-based studies.RESULTS: We identified 38 studies. Estimates for incidence and prevalence varied substantially for most cancers. In population-based studies, cervical, breast, and digestive cancers had the highest incidence. The risk of meningiomas and urinary system cancers appeared higher than expected, while the risks of pancreatic, ovarian, prostate and testicular cancer were lower than expected.CONCLUSION: The complexity of understanding cancer risk in MS is augmented by inconsistencies in study design, and the relative paucity of age, sex and ethnicity-specific risk estimates from which the strong impact of age on the incidence of cancers can be assessed.

U2 - 10.1177/1352458514564489

DO - 10.1177/1352458514564489

M3 - Review

C2 - 25533302

SN - 1352-4585

VL - 21

SP - 294

EP - 304

JO - Multiple Sclerosis Journal

JF - Multiple Sclerosis Journal

IS - 3

ER -