IPF patients at higher risk of cancer incidence

A recent study has found a higher risk of cancer incidence in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) than in those without IPF. Thus, healthcare providers should be made aware of such risk when treating IPF patients.

“IPF shares common risk factors and has pathogenic similarities with cancer. However, limited population‐based data are available on cancer risk among patients with IPF,” the investigators said.

In this population-based cohort study, they investigated whether IPF correlated with an increased risk for cancer incidence from a nationwide database in South Korea. IPF patients were enrolled from 2009 to 2014; matched controls were randomly selected at a control-to-case ratio of 3:1. Those with a diagnosis of any malignancy before the index date were excluded.

The incidence rates of cancer were measured as the number of events per 1,000 person‐years. Cancer incidence risk was assessed using multivariable Cox regression models.

Overall, 25,241 patients with IPF and 75,723 matched controls were included in the analysis. The overall cancer incidence in IPF patients stood at 29.0 cases per 1,000 person-years, which was significantly higher than the non-IPF group (hazard ratio [HR], 2.09, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.96–2.16).

Lung cancer had the highest HR (5.89, 95 percent CI, 5.40–6.42), followed by lymphoma, skin, uterine cervical, multiple myeloma, thyroid, leukaemia, pancreatic, liver, and prostate cancer.

Of note, adjustment for the effects of smoking and other cancer-related covariates showed little impact on the HR of overall and specific cancers.