Circulating uric acid levels and subsequent development of cancer in 493,281 individuals: findings from the AMORIS Study

Abstract

Objectives: Serum uric acid has been suggested to be associated with cancer risk. We aimed to study the association between serum uric acid and cancer incidence in a large Swedish cohort.

Results: A positive association was found between uric acid levels and overall cancer risk, and results were similar with adjustment for glucose, triglycerides and BMI. Hazard ratio (HR) for overall cancer for the 4th quartile of uric acid compared to the 1st was 1.08 (95% CI: 1.05-1.11) in men and 1.12 (1.09 - 1.16) in women. Site-specific analysis showed a positive association between uric acid and risk of colorectal, hepatobiliary, kidney, non-melanoma skin, and other cancers in men and of head and neck and other cancers in women. An inverse association was observed for pulmonary and central nervous system (CNS) cancers in men and breast, lymphatic and haematological, and CNS malignancies in women.

Materials and methods: We included 493,281 persons aged 20 years and older who had a measurement of serum uric acid and were cancer-free at baseline in the AMORIS study. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression was used to investigate sex-specific quartiles of serum uric acid in relation to cancer risk in men and women. Analysis was further adjusted for serum glucose, triglycerides and, where available, BMI. Site-specific analysis was performed for major cancers.

Conclusions: Altered uric acid levels were associated with risk of overall and some specific cancers, further indicating the potential role of uric acid metabolism in carcinogenesis.

Keywords: cancer; prospective study; uric acid.